California governor saves Asian refugees from deportation

KQED / HOPE McKENNEDY

Assemblyman Rob Bonta  announces the drive by the API Legislative Caucus and Advancing Justice Asian Law Caucus to ask for pardons by Gov. Jerry Brown

ASAM NEWS

THE ASIAN PACIFIC Islander Legislative Caucus in California is lauding Governor Jerry Brown’s decision to pardon three Southeast Asian Americans.
They are three of about 20 Southeast Asian immigrants who are seeking pardons from Brown in his last weeks in office, according to The Marshall Project.

All are facing deportation for crimes they committed in their youth.

“As families come together for the holiday season, we have another reason to be thankful. Governor Brown has helped prevent the separation of families by pardoning deserving Southeast Asian Americans,” the API Legislative Caucus said in a statement to AsAmNews.

The three men who received pardons are Truong (Jay) Quang Ly, Tung Thanh Nguyen and Hai Trong Nguyen.

Hai Trong Nguyen came to the United States as a refugee at the age of two from Vietnam.

He served nearly 16 years and two years of probation for robbery and attempted robbery and use of a firearm-crimes he committed at the age of 16.

“He has shown since his release from custody (in 2017), he has lived an honest and upright life, exhibited good moral character, and conducted himself as a law abiding citizen,” Brown wrote in his pardon. “Mr. Nguyen helped found Asian and Pacific Islanders Re-entry of Orange County and has volunteered with the Anti-Recidivism Coalition.”

In 1994, Tung Thanh Nguyen was sentence for murder and robbery. He acted as a lookout while his crime partners stabbed the victim.

“Mr Nguyen has become a tireless advocate for juvenile justice reform, and was actively involved in efforts to pass Senate Bill 260 (2013), which established a separate parole hearing process for individuals who committed crimes as juveniles,” wrote Brown. He has received numerous awards for founding the Asian and Pacific Islanders Re-entry of Orange County.

Truong Jay Quang Ly served more than nine years for voluntary manslaughter. A passenger of a car Ly was driving shot and killed the driver of another car. he has been out of prison since 2009 and now owns seven restaurants. He is a current board member of API-RISE which is devoted to criminal justice reform and helps current and former Asian Pacific Islander Inmates.

“One supporter wrote that Mr Ly is the exact type of person who merits protection from deportation and should be allowed to remain in the country that he now gives back to in such a meaningful way,” said Brown.

Brown issued some 30 pardons on last week and commuted the sentences of 70 more, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“Many Southeast Asian Americans are survivors of the Vietnam War and the Khmer Rouge Genocide. They were part of the largest refugee resettlement in our country’s history and were placed in poverty-ridden neighborhoods with significant crime rates. Some of these refugees were infants and children when they arrived throughout the 1980s and made mistakes in their youth resulting in prison sentences for their transgressions. Today, they have fulfilled their sentences and are now working to make positive contributions to their communities,” the API Legislative Caucus said.

"California immigrants are under full frontal assault from the federal administration. Period," said Assembly member Rob Bonta, chair of the API Legislative Caucus at an earlier San Francisco press conference. "We believe — the API Caucus and our California Legislature — that we should do, and must do, everything in our power to stand up for, defend and protect our immigrants."

A new law, Assembly Bill 2845, authored by the Filipino American lawmaker, will make the pardon and commutation process more transparent and allows the process to be expedited when an urgent issue, such as a pending deportation, requires immediate action. It is due to go into effect in January 1, 2019.

Views From the Edge contributed to this report.

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