New Report: America once called on their help, but now S.E. Asian Americans are being targeted for deported

Southeast Asian Americans protest the continued targeting of their community for mass deportation. 

Southeast Asian American refugees are increasingly being detained and deported by Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Every few months, scores of Khmer Americans, who grew up in the US, are put on a plane and sent to Cambodia or Laos, countries some of the deportees never set foot in and don't speak the language.

A new report, "Southeast Asian American Journeys: A National Snapshot of Our Communities" was released Feb. 27, highlighting socioeconomic, housing, immigration, health, and education trends within the Southeast Asian American (SEAA) community in the United States. 

“At the heart of the Southeast Asian American refugee community’s 45-year history is a story of survivors, born out of the harrowing escape from war decades ago and continuing through the adversity faced upon US resettlement,” said Quyen Dinh, executive director of Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC).

Meant as a resource for policymakers, funders, community-based organizations, organizers, and the general public, the report by SEARAC in conjunction with Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles (Advancing Justice-LA), captures key disaggregated data for SEAA refugee communities who fled the trauma of war and violence following the Vietnam War, Khmer Rouge genocide, and bombings in Laos to seek haven in the United States 45 years ago. 

This comprehensive national report also features statewide profiles, as well as individual refugee and resettlement narratives.

Click here to read the report.

In 1975, the US occupation in Southeast Asia ended with the largest mass resettlement of 1.1 million refugees in America’s history.
“Initially because the war in Vietnam was not popular in the U.S., when refugees came from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, they were met with hostility. They were not welcome at all," said Dr. Le Xuan Khoa, SEARAC’s second executive director

Due to the lack of key resettlement support systems, SEAA refugees were made to live in neighborhoods plagued by gang violence and failing schools while navigating unaddressed trauma from the wars and limited support for cultural integration. While these challenges and inequities still impact SEAAs today, this vibrant and resilient community has also navigated these obstacles to become critical, contributing members to the United States. Today, SEAAs number over 2.7 million people strong. 

With the support of community members and organizations, the study illuminates not only SEAA challenges but also their resilience and successes throughout the decades, from resettlement to growing up in low-income neighborhoods to fighting the school-to-prison-to-deportation pipeline. The data provides both national-level data, as well as state-specific data for California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Texas, and Washington—states with a sizable population of SEAAs. 

One key finding from this report revealed that nearly 30% of SEAAs have not completed high school or passed the GED, more than double the national average (13%). Out of all SEAA ethnic groups, Cambodian Americans are the least likely to hold a high school diploma. 

One interviewee shared, “I am the daughter of Cambodian refugees. Growing up, five of us lived in a tiny apartment in Chinatown. Gang violence was common. Poverty was evident. And yet, I always had a sense of hope because I could see what world was possible through my amazing public schools and libraries.”

“Through this report, we honor the courage, resilience, and love passed down from our elders and ancestors," said Dinh. "By centering this report on critical disaggregated data that is often masked by the myth of a thriving Asian American model minority, it is our hope that policymakers can implement the recommendations outlined so that our families can access pathways to thrive and flourish in this country that we now call home.”

US deports 30 men back to Cambodia as part of Trump crackdown on refugees

ASAM NEWS

A coalition of Asian American groups denounced the deportation of more than 30 Cambodian Americans Monday.

The action by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement appears to be part of a crackdown by the Trump administration on refugees with criminal records. Many of those deported have served their time and proven to be outstanding contributing members of the community. Since 2017, the groups say deportations of Cambodian Americans have increased by 279%.

The deported men, whose ages ranged between the ages of 33 and 60, arrived in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh on Jan. 15, according to Bill Herod, the founder of the Khmer Vulnerability Aid Organization (KVAO), which works to integrate the deportees into Cambodia, a country some of them had never set foot in.

“The deportations of Cambodians and other Southeast Asian Americans devastate our communities. These refugees were pushed into the criminal justice system and served their time in prisons and detention centers,” said Montha Chum, national co-director of the Southeast Asian Freedom Network. “Deportation is cruel and triple punishment simply because they’re not citizens.”

Since 2017, there has been a 279% increase in deportations of Cambodian Americans, and deportations of Cambodian and Vietnamese Americans are the highest they have ever been in over a decade. Over 17,000 Southeast Asian Americans have been ordered removed, and over 1,900 have been deported since 1998.

According to Kham Moua of Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, all the individuals were deported on a single flight out of the Prairieland Detention Center in Texas. They came from all over the United States including Massachusetts, California and Washington state.

The deportations are occurring during the 45th anniversary of Southeast Asian Americans resettling in this country.

“Removals for Cambodians and all nationalities are directly proportionate to their respective illegal entries into the United States and represent the result of judicious immigration removal proceedings,” an ICE spokeswoman told AsAmNews.

Among the groups joining in the condemnation of ICE are Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Asian Prisoner Support Committee, Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, Southeast Asian Freedom Network, and Vietnamese Anti-Deportation Network.

They are supporting a bill by US House Reps. Chuy Garcia, Pramila Jayapal, Karen Bass, and Ayanna Pressley called the New Way Forward Act. The bill would allow reformed criminals to stay with their families in the United States.

” We cannot continue to give second chances to only US citizens and must apply that same standard to all residents in this country,” said Quyen Dinh, executive director of Southeast Asia Resource Action Center. “The United States cannot continue to tear our families apart by denying due process protections for refugees and immigrants. Congress must urgently move to advance bills like the New Way Forward Act to give our communities tools to fight their deportations.”

“Since our arrival to the United States, Cambodian people have fallen subject to poverty, incarceration, ICE detention and deportation, said Nathanial Tan, co-director of Asian Prisoner Support Committee. "Despite these deportations, we must continue to support and fight for folks. Deportations are not the end of the battle. We must continue to fight deportations and continuously find ways to reunite refugee families.”

State prison allows ICE to detain of Cambodian American released from prison

TWITTER

Tith Ton supporters blocks an entrance to ICE offices in San Francisco on Dec. 17.

Tith Ton won't be able to spend the holidays with his family after being released from prison.

After serving his sentence for 22 years, the Cambodian American refugee was released on parole Dec. 23 from California's San Quinten State Penetentiary, right into the arms of Immigration, Customs and Enforcement officers.

TITH TON

A 2017 California law bars local and state agencies from cooperating with immigration authorities involving cases against those who have committed certain crimes, mostly misdemeanors. The immigration rights groups say it also applies to the state prison system.

“It’s deeply disappointing that the governor is choosing to work with ICE,” said Anoop Prasad, an attorney with the Asian Law Caucus. “It’s an unjust and illogical practice that is tearing apart communities in California.”

Ton was in prison for the murder of a rival gang member. Supporters say he had turned his life around and became a licensed substance abuse counselor while serving his sentence. He also received his GED and mentored other inmates while assisting with ethnic studies classes and supporting his family from behind bars.

The governor's office didn’t comment other than to confirm that he had allowed the parole. Supporters presented a petition with 40,000 signatures asking for Ton's parole.

“We followed normal procedure,” corrections department spokesman Jeffrey Callison said of Ton’s release.

Pleas to Gov. Gavin Newsom fell on deaf ears. The week prior to Ton's parole, his family and supporters demonstrated at the state capitol and in front or ICE offices in San Francisco.

Immigrant rights advocates want Newsom to end a California Rehabilitation Department of Corrections policy of notifying ICE of impending releases after the immigration agents file detainers or present an arrest warrant.

A 2017 California law bars local and state agencies from cooperating with immigration authorities involving cases against those who have committed certain crimes, mostly misdemeanors. The rights groups say the law should also apply to the CRDC.

Deportations have Cambodian American community on edge

A Cambodian refugee is led to a plane that will fly him back to Cambodia.

The Cambodian American community is on edge this week as another round of deportations is expected to commence.

Dozens of Cambodian refugees who came to the US legally as children and who served time behind bars for crimes committed as youth are being ordered to report to federal officials next week for removal.

“Many of these people have served their time and rebuilt their lives,” said Kevin Lam, an organizer with the Asian American Resource Workshop in Boston. “They have families, careers and contribute to their communities.”

At least 20 people in California have been served notices to report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to begin the deportation process, according to Ny Nourn, a San Francisco-based community advocate with the Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus. The state is home to the largest population of Cambodians in the U.S.

In Massachusetts, the state with the nation’s second largest Cambodian community, at least 10 residents have received the notices, said Bethany Li, director of Greater Boston Legal Services’ Asian Outreach Unit.

Other Cambodian Americans living in Minnesota, Texas, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin have also been issued the orders, said Elaine Sanchez Wilson, a spokeswoman for the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center in Washington, D.C.

Asian American activists argue that many of those facing deportation already served criminal sentences years and in some cases decades ago, when they were troubled young refugees struggling to adjust to a new country after their families fled Cambodia’s brutal Khmer Rouge regime.

As refugees, the families were placed in low-income neighborhoods and were forced to join gangs for survival in the rough environment.

This fiscal year alone, 80 refugees have been deportedd. There are nearly 1,800 Cambodians with final removal orders living in the country. As former incarcerated individuals, they are usually under court ordered supervision.

“I have kids that are American, and a wife that is an American citizen. But just because of the past, they can pick you up and deport you at any moment. That’s just insane to me,” said one man who requested to remain anonymous.

If he’s forced to go back to Cambodia, he said he’d be leaving his family and a nearly two-decade career serving at risk youths to live in a country he’s never known.

 “I consider myself an American,” he said. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What to do if ICE comes knocking: Know your rights & family preparedness video

Sunday is usually a time for church, family get-togethers, and perhaps time to play a little soccer, but this Sunday will be different.

Lots of people will on short vacations, missing church, visiting relatives or all closeted up together this weekend in anticipation of the ICE raids expected to rain down on immigrant communities.

Immigrant advocacy groups and legal aid lawyers will be spread out around the country ready to jump into action when and if they get that dreaded call from someone who is being detained for deportation.

“More than one hundred years ago, the Supreme Court decided that immigrants could not be deported without due process. These vulnerable refugees deserve that basic protection,” said Ahilan Arulanantham, senior counsel at the ACLU in Southern California in a public statement. The ACLU is one of the four legal aid organizations suing the administration.

ICE authorities said they would focus on these 10 cities: New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Denver, Miami, New Orleans, Baltimore, Chicago and Atlanta, It should be remembered that this includes the cities' suburbs. Just because one lives in San Jose doesn't mean one will be immune to the raids.

There are already reports of ICE arrests being made before the announced "raids." About 36 Cambodians were deported a week before and landed in Cambodia on July 4th.

If you are afraid of a visit from ICE, or you know someone who might be afraid of an ICE officer knocking on their door, here's some suggestions from the ACLU to help you prepare yourself and your family.I

If ICE goes to your home:

How to stay reduce risk to yourself

• Stay calm and keep the door closed. Opening the door does not give them permission to come inside, but it is safer to speak to ICE through the door.

Your rights

• You have the right to remain silent, even if officer has a warrant.
• You do not have to let police or immigration agents into your home unless they have certain kinds of warrants.
• If police have an arrest warrant, they are legally allowed to enter the home of the person on the warrant if they believe that person is inside. But a warrant of removal/deportation (Form I-205) does not allow officers to enter a home without consent.

What to do when the police or ICE arrive  

• Ask if they are immigration agents and what they are there for.
• Ask the agent or officer to show you a badge or identification through the window or peephole.
• Ask if they have a warrant signed by a judge. If they say they do, ask them to slide it under the door or hold it up to a window so you can inspect it.
• Don’t lie or produce any false documents. Don’t sign anything without speaking with a lawyer first.
• Do not open your door unless ICE shows you a judicial search or arrest warrant naming a person in your residence and/or areas to be searched at your address. If they don’t produce a warrant, keep the door closed. State: “I do not consent to your entry.”
• If agents force their way in, do not resist. If you wish to exercise your rights, state: “I do not consent to your entry or to your search of these premises. I am exercising my right to remain silent. I wish to speak with a lawyer as soon as possible.”
• If you are on probation with a search condition, law enforcement is allowed to enter your home.

Watch this video for more tips that might be helpful:

All people in the United States, regardless of immigration status, have certain rights and protections under the U.S. Constitution. The Red Cards, provided by Immigration Legal Resource Center, help people assert their rights and defend themselves in many situations, such as when ICE agents go to a home.

Ordering Red Cards

1. Print Your Own: The artwork for printing your own cards is available at the bottom of this page. These are formatted as standard 3.5” by 2” business cards. Any print or copy shop should be able to work from these files. We strongly recommend printing these with rounded corners and a coated finish for durability. You can also print them on your own personal printer.
2. Businesses, Private Attorneys, and Orders of 1000+: Order from www.RedCardOrders.com. This is a union-run printer set up to accept your order, print, and ship the cards directly to you. You will have to pay the printer for your order.
3. Nonprofits: If you are an immigrant-serving organization based anywhere in the United States, or if you are a public defender, librarian, educator, or are otherwise employed by a public institution, the ILRC can arrange to order and ship cards to you for free. Complete the order form here

Using Your Red Cards

Please see here for further information on how to use your Red Cards.

Files

 Artwork for Printing Your Own Red Cards - Arabic

 Artwork for Printing Your Own Red Cards - Chinese

 Artwork for Printing Your Own Red Cards - English

 Artwork for Printing Your Own Red Cards - French

 Artwork for Printing Your Own Red Cards - Hmong

 Artwork for Printing Your Own Red Cards - Korean

 Artwork for Printing Your Own Red Cards - Spanish

 Artwork for Printing Your Own Red Cards - Vietnamese

More than just Sunday

ICE plans to do these raids beyond Sunday. For the next two weeks it will pay to be alert, cautious and be prepared.

Print out this flyer and post by the door.

Be safe and be prepared, my friends.

_______________________________________________________________

City vows change in voting so Asian Americans can be represented on city council

SCREEN CAPTURE / YOUTUBE

Cambodian Americans celebrate the Lunar New Year in Lowell, Massachusetts.

ASAM NEWS

A coalition of Latino and Asian American voters has reached a settlement with the city of Lowell, Massachusetts that, if approved by the judge, would require the city to change its electoral system by the year 2021, reports Sampan News. 

“Today’s agreement is a great victory for Lowell’s communities of color, and for all of Lowell’s residents,” said Oren M. Sellstrom, Litigation Director with Lawyers for Civil Rights, representing the plaintiffs.

While nearly half of Lowell’s population are people of color, its city council and school committee are overwhelmingly White. 

Lowell is home to the second largest community of Cambodian Americans living in the United States. About a third of the city’s population is of Southeast Asian descent;

Latino and Asian American voters responded by forming a coalition to bring the lawsuit in 2017, contending that they were not being fairly represented. This was the first time that Latino and Asian Americans have teamed up in a voting rights lawsuit, according to WGBH News.

The settlement states that starting in 2021, municipal elections in Lowell will be barred from using its current at-large electoral system. There are six possible alternatives that Lowell may adopt, including a purely district-based system, several hybrid options that combine district and at-large seats, and at-large ranked-choice voting. 

The city will hold a series of public meetings about the six options. Two will be chosen this November by the current city council to be on a ballot for a non-binding vote, and the city council will make the final choice in December. 

While the city gets the final say, both sides say all of the options are fair and more equitable than the current system.

In an interview with WGBH News, Sellstrom said that this is unique for voting rights lawsuits like this, which are often negotiated behind closed doors. “I think there are going to be many jurisdictions that are going to be looking to Lowell and the resolution of this lawsuit as a model and as a blueprint for how other resolutions can occur.”

“Lowell’s communities of color and their allies banded together to seek a more fair electoral system,” Denisse Collazo, one of the Latino plaintiffs, said to Sampan. An Asian American plaintiff also spoke with the newspaper.

“One of Lowell’s great strengths is its diversity,” said Tooch Van, one of the Asian American plaintiffs. “Today’s agreement will help ensure that this diversity is reflected in our elected bodies as well. That will make our City stronger.”

The resolution of this lawsuit is subject to the approval of Magistrate Judge Donald L. Cabell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. If approved, the public meetings to educate residents of the law can get underway.

_________________________________________________________________

Cambodian Americans petition California governor for pardons to prevent deportations

SCREEN CAPTURE / AL JAZEERA

Cambodian Americans protest deportations in Minneapolis.

A petition has been launched to have California Gov. Gavin Newsom grant pardons to Cambodian Americans who have committed crimes in their youth, served their time in prison or jail and who are not being targeted by the Trump administration for deportation.

Most of the Cambodian Americans, like Khmer Americans and Vietnamese Americans, came to this country as kids, as refugees, fleeing the violence in their war-torn home countries or escaping arrests for their support of the U.S. during the Vietnam War. 

“We have been struggling to survive for our entire lives,” said Borey “PJ” Ai, a Southeast Asian refugee with a pending pardon application. “We thought we had escaped persecution when our families fled their homes. We have experienced so much tragedy already, both abroad and in the US, and we fear that our lives and communities will now be destroyed by ICE." 

Many of the detainees are the children or grandchildren of the Khmer, Vietnamese and Cambodians who fought for the U.S. during the war and sought refugee status in this country to escape persecution. As second-generation immigrants, some of them have never visited  Cambodia nor speak the language.

The petition is sponsored by Asian Prisoner Support Committee, the Asian Law Caucus and the Daily Kos.

In the last few years, Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been conducting raids in Cambodian, Khmer and Vietnamese communities to send them to detention centers prior to deportation.

Under the Trump administration, the raids and arrests have increased dramatically. The ICE raids are the latest effort to bully the Cambodian government. The results have been devastating to children and families across the board. Some have spent several years out of prison and transformed their lives, buying homes, joining the workforce, starting businesses, and supporting families. Most of the Cambodian American detainees have served their time for their crime. The threat of deportation years later is an inhumane form of double punishment.

Besides California, raids and arrests have occurred in Cambodian and Khmer communities in Minneapolis, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Washington.

By granting pardons to those who face imminent deportation to Cambodia, California's Gov. Newsom can ensure they will be protected. Earlier this year a letter from the Cambodian American community and Asian Law Caucus asked the governor to support the community efforts.

Gov. Jerry Brown, Newsom's predecessor, gave pardons to some Cambodian Americans under ICE detention and prevented their deportation.

Asian Law Caucus successfully argued that the crimes committed by two Cambodian Americans men were not violent crimes as defined by a new ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, thus allowing Phorn Tem and Veasna Meth to return to their families in Sacramento.

This Wednesday, March 13, many of them are scheduled for ICE check-ins. In the last few years, these appointments have been used to inform them about their pending deportation. Many of them are detained on the spot, torn from their families without any notice.

Sign the petition: Demand Governor Newsom grant pardons to Cambodian Americans in need to stop the deportations.

Our Message to Governor Gavin Newsom : 

We urge you to help keep Cambodian detainees home with their loved ones in California where they belong. Pardon and protect our community members who face imminent deportation, especially individuals like Amlorn Siratana, Hay Hov, and Roeun Pich and others who only know California to be their home.

READ the entire article at the Daily Kos. 

__________________________________________

Judge temporarily halts surprise arrests of Cambodian refugees

 Southeast Asian Resource Center

Cambodian Americans and their supporters brought their plight to the White House last year.

By Louis Chan, 

ASAM NEWS

UP TO 2,000 Cambodian refugees for now won’t have to live in fear that an officer with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement is hiding in the bushes, waiting to arrest them for deportation.

Judge Cormac Carney from the U.S. District Court in the Central District of California granted a temporary restraining order requiring 14 days notice before ICE can detain a Cambodian with a deportation order. 

Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus filed the case with Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Los Angeles and Sidley Austin LLP  

The judge temporarily blocked ICE’s practice of rounding up Cambodian refugees without notice. ICE must provide written notice 14 days before re-detaining a Cambodian with a deportation order. 

“The judge has stopped ICE’s practice of ambushing Cambodian refugees who have supported their families and contributed to their communities for years,” Jenny Zhao, an attorney for the Asian Law Caucus, said to AsAmNews. 

“Now people will have at least some opportunity to talk to a lawyer and make child care plans before being re-detained. This is not just a legal issue, but a matter of basic decency.” 

The Temporary Restraining Order remains in place only until January 28. A hearing must still be held to determine what happens after that. 

Those impacted are those who have already served their time for crimes committed, but now live under the threat of deportation under a crackdown pushed by the Trump administration. 

Those who think they may be impacted by the decision can find more information in this tweet from Asian Law Caucus.

AAAJ answers questions about the restraining order and its impact:

Am I included in the temporary restraining order?
This class action lawsuit (Chhoeun) includes all Cambodians in the United States with final orders of deportation or removal who were released from immigration detention and have not subsequently been convicted of a crime or failed to check in with ICE.

If you are not sure if you are included in the temporary restraining order and you have a check-in in January 2019, call us at 415-952-0413.

What does the temporary restraining order do and what does it not do?
The temporary restraining order does not prevent ICE from arresting people. It does prevent ICE from arresting people included in the class action unless they first provide written notice 14 days in advance that they plan to arrest someone and provide them copies of their immigration court charging documents, removal order, and criminal conviction records (so that they can consult with an immigration lawyer about whether they might be able to reopen their case and cancel their removal order).

The temporary restraining order also does not prevent ICE from deporting people, even if they were redetained without notice. Cambodian refugees in detention must act quickly to pursue immigration relief to avoid deportation.

What should I do if I have an upcoming check-in with ICE?
Call the raid hotline at 415-952-0413 to speak to an attorney.___________________________________________________________________________________

Homeland Security chief stumbles trying to defend immigration policy; Congress express concern of deportations of Southeast Asians

SCREEN CAPTURE / YOUTUBE

Homeland Security Secretary defends immigration policy during House hearings last week.

AS HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY KIRSTJEN NIELSEN underwent sometimes rancorous grilling from members of Congress over immigration policy, 53 members of Congress expressed their dismay over the recent deportations of Southeast Asians.

Nielsen made her first appearance before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday (Dec. 20), and questioning contrasted sharply between Republicans who praised her efforts and Democrats who unleashed all their rage over her agency’s treatment of foreign-born minors and migrants in its custody.

The hearing came less than a week after DHS announced that a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl named Jakelin Caal Maquin died in Border Patrol’s custody, and as Donald Trump was threatening to shut down parts of the federal government unless he receives $5 billion toward a border wall he promised Mexico would pay for.

But while Nielsen had good reason to expect tough questions, she seemed unprepared to deal with them.

Nielsen was bashed for the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" policy that led to thousands of family separations over the summer, its handling of the migrant caravan, the death of a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl in Border Patrol custody, and a policy announced during the middle of Thursday’s hearing that bars asylum-seekers from entering the U.S.

At one point, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., stormed out of the meeting after calling her a liar.

“Shame on everybody that separates children, that allows them to stay at the other side of the border fearing death, fearing hunger, fearing sickness,” Gutierrez said angrily. “Shame on us for wearing our badge of Christianity during Christmas and allow the secretary to come here and lie.”

Nielsen responded: "Calling me a liar are fighting words. I'm not a liar. We've never had a policy for family separation."

Later, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) asked Nielsen if she was “aware” of a plethora of research indicating the likelihood that immigrants,are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans — a fact that contradicts Trump's main argument to limit immigrantion and those seeking asylum.

“I have not seen those particular studies,” replied Nielsen.

“It’d be helpful if you start putting in some basic facts about the actual facts related to immigrants and crime,” Lieu replied.

Lieu cited a 2015 study by the nonpartisan Cato Institute titled “Immigration and Crime — What the Research Says.” It found that “roughly 1.6 percent of immigrant males 18–39 are incarcerated, compared to 3.3 percent of the native-born,” and concluded that “the weight of the evidence suggests that immigration is not associated with increased levels of crime. To the extent that a relationship does exist, research often finds a negative effect of immigration on levels of crime, in general, and on homicide in particular.”

Prior to the hearing, Rep. Judy Chu, D-CA, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-WA, CAPAC Immigration Task Force Chair, led 53 Congress members in sending a letter to Nielsen demanding an end to the detention and deportation of Southeast Asian refugees and families.

“We are concerned that the recent retaliatory visa sanctions from the Trump Administration pressuring Cambodia and Laos to accept deported people have propelled these mass detentions and deportations. Additionally, we are also concerned that the Administration’s reinterpretation of the 2008 bilateral agreement between the United States and Vietnam will also lead to increased detentions and deportations of Vietnamese Americans,” said the letter.

“It is troubling to see Southeast Asian American families being targeted at unprecedented levels. We urge you to reexamine policies on the arbitrary detention and deportation of Southeast Asian Americans who prove no threat to public safety, are interwoven into our communities, and support U.S. citizen families. We urge you to use prosecutorial discretion to ensure that our finite resources are not being wasted to tear families apart and deport individuals who have transformed their lives after serving their sentences,” the letter "continued.

Further, we request that you set up a briefing on your discussions with Vietnam, in particular to provide information on any deal with Vietnam to accept deported refugees," said the Congress members.

The letter was sent days after 36 Cambodian Americans were deported to Cambodia from a detention center in Texas. Most of them had criminal records and served time behind bars for as minor an infraction ad a DUI.

"Upon arrival into the United States, many were resettled into struggling neighborhoods. Still coping with significant trauma from the war, some of these refugees made mistakes as teenagers and young adults and were funneled into the criminal justice system. All of them served their time, and the majority transformed their lives to become productive community members, business owners, and loving parents supporting their U.S citizen families," the letter explained.

Read the full letter below:

December 19, 2018

The Honorable Kirstjen M. Nielsen
Secretary
Department of Homeland Security
3801 Nebraska Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20528

Dear Secretary Nielsen:

We write to express our deep concern about the detention and deportation of Southeast Asian refugees from Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. In recent years, we have seen a spike in the arbitrary detention and removal of lawful permanent residents who came to the United States as refugees fleeing the violence and genocide from the Vietnam War and the Khmer Rouge genocide. We urge you to cease detentions and deportations of refugees from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

Many of those impacted were born in refugee camps and have never set foot in the countries to which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is trying to remove them. Upon arrival into the United States, many were resettled into struggling neighborhoods. Still coping with significant trauma from the war, some of these refugees made mistakes as teenagers and young adults and were funneled into the criminal justice system. All of them served their time, and the majority transformed their lives to become productive community members, business owners, and loving parents supporting their U.S citizen families. They have checked in dutifully with ICE, some for decades, only now to be suddenly arrested, detained, and deported.

We are concerned that the recent retaliatory visa sanctions from the Trump Administration pressuring Cambodia and Laos to accept deported people have propelled these mass detentions and deportations. Additionally, we are also concerned that the Administration’s reinterpretation of the 2008 bilateral agreement between the United States and Vietnam will also lead to increased detentions and deportations of Vietnamese Americans.[1] The biggest round up of Cambodian and Vietnamese immigrants for deportation took place in 2017.[2]Cambodia is currently on target to see record-breaking deportation numbers in 2018.[3]

It is troubling to see Southeast Asian American families being targeted at unprecedented levels. We urge you to reexamine policies on the arbitrary detention and deportation of Southeast Asian Americans who prove no threat to public safety, are interwoven into our communities, and support U.S. citizen families. We urge you to use prosecutorial discretion to ensure that our finite resources are not being wasted to tear families apart and deport individuals who have transformed their lives after serving their sentences. Further, we request that you set up a briefing on your discussions with Vietnam, in particular to provide information on any deal with Vietnam to accept deported refugees.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please contact [our staff] to set up a briefing to address these questions no later than December 27, 2018.

Sincerely,
(sgd) 53 Members of the House of Representatives
______________________________________________________________________________

Cambodians, & Vietnamese Americans on edge, fighting protesting deportations.

SCREEN CAPTURE / KTLA

Hundreds protested [ossible deportations of Vietnamese Americans in Westminister, Caalif.

ASAM NEWS & VIEWS FROM ThE EDGE

VIETNAMESE AMERICANS rallied Saturday in Orange County's Little Saigon to protest a move by the Trump administration to clear the way for the deportation of Vietnamese American refugees.

“Bao ve gia dinh. Bao ve gia dinh,” protesters repeated, demanding protection against separating families. More than 300,000 Vietnamese Americans and nationals live in Orange County, the largest Vietnamese population outside Vietnam, according to KTLA.  It includes parts of Westminster, Garden Grove and Santa Ana. Many of them came into the country in the 1990s as refugees of the Vietnam war.

Xuyen Dong-Matsuda, a mental health worker, urged the crowd of about 100 Saturday in Little Saigon to “fight for those who need our passion and our help.”

The White House is trying to renegotiate an agreement with Vietnam that protects refugees from deportation. A new agreement would enable the U.S. to deport some 8,000 Vietnamese Americans who committed a crime-even for minor offenses that they have already served jail sentences.

“We need to open our hearts and minds to offer others a second chance,” said Lan Nguyen, a filmmaker at the rally. Lan also expressed support for the Cambodian community which is now also living under the same threat.

Meanwhile, three Khmer American men in detention in the state of Washington and awaiting deportation to Cambodia have been freed, according to the International Examiner. 

In Washington state, three members of the so called Washington 7 have been freed from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

The Northwest Immigrants Right Project (NWIRP), Foster Pepper PLLC, Formerly Incarcerated Group Healing Together (FIGHT), and the Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs (CAPAA) and the ad hoc response group called the Khmer Anti-deportation Advocacy Group of Washington (KhAAG) worked to get two of the men freed.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee granted an emergency pardon for  Roeuth An. His mother recalled the shock she felt when he was taken into custody by ICE.

“When he [An] was five, the Khmer Rouge took him away from me, they don’t let you live with your parents anymore, ” said Ms. Lorng Raing, mother of Mr. Roeuth An. “When they [ICE] took him away, all those emotions came rushing back to me,” she told the International Examiner.

After the U.S. bullied Cambodia into accepting deportees, Cambodian officials agreed to accept more deportees from the U.S. Forty-six Cambodian Americans are supposed to be deported Monday (Dec. 17), the largest number of Cambodian deportees in history.

Most of the detained Cambodian Americans set to be deported have committed a crime for which they already served their sentence.

Attorneys have petitioned Gov. Jerry Brown to pardon the Cambodians which would prevent their deportation. The governor in the last 10 months has pardoned seven formerly incarcerated who otherwise would have been deported to Cambodia, drawing the ire of Donald Trump, whose administration has stepped up efforts to deport immigrants with criminal convictions.

In a rare step, the California Supreme Court has blocked one of Brown’s pardon's to a 37-year-old Borey Ai, who killed a woman when he was 14-years old, for which he served a 19-year sentence.

The court gave no reason for the rejection, but earlier noted it only had the authority to do so in the case of an “abuse of power.” Brown’s pardon would have effectively stopped Ai’s deportation to Cambodia, a nation where his mother was born but he has never seen.

This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Homeland Security targets Cambodians, Vietnamese Americans for deportation

SEARAC PHOTO

Cambodian Americans protest the deportations.

UPDATED Dec. 14 to include comments from NAPAWF.

WHILE MOST OF THE ATTENTION has been focused on Trump's Damn Wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and blocking Central American asylum seekers, the administration has been quietly been pushing to deport more refugees from Southeast Asia, primarily Vietnamese and Cambodians.

“We are horrified by the Trump administration’s announcement of intent to deport Southeast Asian immigrants. This stunning attack on Vietnamese and Cambodian immigrants means that many who have called the United States home for years and may have no memory of living elsewhere will be sent to a country they no longer recognize,” said Dorothy He of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum. 

“Like millions of other Asian immigrants, most of these individuals fled from war, hoping to rebuild their lives in a country they thought would respect their agency and right to make choices about their bodies, their lives, and their families. Now, they are being penalized for simply having dared to envision a better life — one without violence or fear,” she said.

As soon as next Monday (Dec. 17), 46 Cambodian American refugees are slated to be deported to Cambodia. It will be the largest deportation of Cambodians in U.S. history. The previous record of 40 was only eight months ago. One hundred Cambodian Americans have been deported this year, almost three times the number deported in 2017.

Between 1975 and 2000, the U.S. accepted 145,000 Cambodian refugees as part of an influx of Cambodians displaced by war.

In April, Cambodia told Washington that they would no longer accept deportations of Cambodian Americans after the Cambodian government witnessed the inhumane impacts of the deportations. Since then, the U.S. bullied Cambodia by threatening to impose travel sanctions on Cambodian officials looking to travel to the U.S.

The transition for Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees who resettled in the U.S. in the years following the Vietnam War was not easy. Due to ad hoc resettlement practices, they were often placed in resource-poor and economically deteriorating neighborhoods, where they lacked a supportive community or access to mental health services to cope with war-related trauma. 

Under these challenging conditions, some made mistakes leading to criminal convictions and ultimately deportation orders. Despite these early challenges, after serving their sentences, many have gone on to live productive lives, started families and found jobs.
Gov. Jerry Brown has pardoned a few of the young men so that they no longer were priorities for deportation, The San Francisco-based Asian Law Caucus has appealed to the California governor to pardon the Cambodians to prevent their deportation.

Also eligible for deportation are the Vietnamese immigrants who arrived in the country before the establishment of diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Vietnam and Cambodian Americans who fled the Khmer Rouge regime.

“We are seeing increased enforcement efforts, not just to detain those who are already vulnerable to removal but to pressure countries to expand how many people they are willing to accept overall,” said Katrina Dizon Mariategue, director of national policy at the nonprofit Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC). “It is clear that they are not taking into account factors such as impact on families and communities, nor the humanitarian implications of deporting refugees.”

A State Department spokesperson confirmed the U.S.-Vietnam negotiations to HuffPost but declined to divulge the full details of the “private diplomatic conversations.” The spokesperson noted, however, that “the U.S. Government and the Vietnamese Government continue to discuss our respective positions relative to Vietnamese citizens who are now subject to final orders of removal.”

Florida's Rep. Stephanie Murphy opposes Donald Trump's efforts to deport Southeast Asian refugees.

“My family fled Communist Vietnam when I was a baby because they would have rather died in search of light than to have lived in darkness,” Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., stated today (Dec. 12) on Twitter. “Thanks to a program under President Carter, we resettled to the U.S., and I became a proud citizen of this great nation.”

Murphy, the first Vietnamese American woman to serve in Congress, added in a second tweet, “As an American, I’m deeply concerned by [Trump’s] attempts to renegotiate the 2008 MOU between Vietnam and the U.S., which would potentially deport Vietnamese refugees who arrived in the U.S. before 1995.”

“This debate is about keeping our promises and honoring this country's longstanding humanitarian spirit,” Murphy said. “I urge [Trump] to be mindful of this proposed policy's impacts on thousands of families. We can keep America safe and continue to uphold our fundamental American values.”

Fifteen community organizations and over 50 state and local elected officials from 9 states joined Advancing Justice and SEARAC in sending letters to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Donald Trump, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, urging them to halt any changes to the agreement that would make "pre-95" immigrants subject to deportation or weaken any of the humanitarian considerations reflected in the agreement.

Modifications to the agreement could potentially make over 8,500 individuals immediately vulnerable to deportation. Many of these community members came to the United States as refugees, fleeing war and persecution, and have lived here peacefully for decades.

"For many years now, the repatriation agreement between the U.S. and Vietnam has afforded thousands of former Vietnamese refugees the opportunity to move past mistakes they've made and rebuild their lives in the country that they call home," said Phi Nguyen, litigation director at Advancing Justice - Atlanta. 

"The agreement recognizes the inhumanity of forcing refugees to return to a country that they fled many years ago in the aftermath of a U.S.-backed war. Our government should not turn its back now on the very people it felt a responsibility to take in."

in the April issue of Foreign Service Journal Ted Osius, the former U.S. ambassador to Vietnam, said he was told to pressure the Vietnamese government to take back more than 8,000 people ― most of whom were refugees who had “fled South Vietnam on boats and through the jungle” after the Vietnam War. Osius said he quit the State Department last year over the Trump administration’s plans to deport the refugees.

“The majority targeted for deportation — sometimes for minor infractions — were war refugees who had sided with the United States, whose loyalty was to the flag of a nation that no longer exists,” Osius wrote in the Journal. “And they were to be ‘returned’ decades later to a nation ruled by a communist regime with which they had never reconciled. I feared many would become human rights cases, and our government would be culpable.”

“America is my home now. All my family is here. My life is here," said Dai Diep, who came to the U.S. as a refugee in May 1995. "I hope that the U.S. government will act with honor and compassion—not just for myself but for the thousands of others who are in the same situation as me.”
______________________________________________________________________ 

_________________________________________________________________________