Heartbreak and Exile: Fei Zheng reunited With 6-year-old son only to be deported

Fei Zheng and his son , Yuanxin, have been deported to China, even though
the followed the United States procedure for asylum.

Federal immigration officials appeared to use a father's love for his child as a cudgel to convince a Chinese asylum seeker to concde to voluntary deportation.

After being detained for a month, Fei Zheng felt being with his 6-year old son was more important than go through a possibly long separation by fighting federal authorities over his deportation.

In a move critics call "coercive," Zheng was reportedly told the only way to see his son again was to waive his rights and agree to a voluntary departure. Faced with the impossible choice of remaining in detention while his son languished in a government facility or taking him home to China, Zheng chose his son, Yuanxin.

The agonizing saga of Fei Zheng (initially reported as Zhang) and his young son, Yuanxin, has reached a bitter conclusion that highlights the harsh realities of the US immigration system. 

After a month of forced separation that sparked nationwide outrage and rallies across New York, the pair has finally been reunited—but only on the condition of their immediate removal from the country.

On December 17, Department of Homeland Security officials confirmed that Zheng and 6-year-old Yuanxin were put on a plane and deported back to China.

The nightmare began in November 2025, when Zheng—who had lived in the US for years—showed up for what he thought was usual ICE check-in. 

Zheng and his son first entered the United States seeking asylum this spring and had twice before spent time at a family ICE detention center in Texas before. They had only been free for about a month on parole at the time of their November arrest.

Instead, like so many immigrants obeying the law by checking in with immigration officials, he was detained, and his son was snatched away and placed into the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. 

For weeks, community activists and Asian American advocacy groups, including Yuanxin first-grade classmates and parents, demanded the child be returned to his father.

As of late December 2025, the family is back in China. While they are finally together, the cost of that reunion was the loss of the life they had built in America. It’s a somber reminder of the "silent" deportations still tearing families apart in the AAPI community.

“This was a family who wanted to contribute to their community, a child who was bright and wanted to get a good education, a father who wanted the best for his child and wanted to work hard,” said Jennie Spector, a volunteer who was in touch with Zheng over the phone and in person during his confinement,. “They were denied that opportunity because of our broken and punitive immigration system, a system that is now set up to cause as much harm as possible.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. 

US blocked from deporting undocumented immigrants from Asia

Some immigrants from Asia have already been deported to Central American countries.

Immigrants from Asia were saved from being deported to Libya by a federal judge eaerlier this week. They were on the tarmac in Texas  waiting for the flight to Libya when they received the judge's order.

US District Judge Briaan Murphy on May 7 said the deportation of the noncitizen immigrants from the Philippines, Vietnam and Laos would violate his earlier ruling that people have the right to challenge their removal by US authorities.

Tin Thanh Nguyen, told the news agency Reuters that his client, a Vietnamese construction worker from Los Angeles, was among the immigrants woken in the early morning hours and bussed from an immigration detention center in Pearsall, Texas, to an airfield where a military aircraft awaited them.

After several hours, they were bussed back to the detention center around noon, the attorney said on Thursday.

Murphy's ruling was in response to an emergency motion by the Asian immigrants' lawyers who claimed their clients were in "imminent" danger of being deported to Libya -- "a country notorious for its human rights violations."

Sending the would-be deportees to Libya or Saudi Arabia without giving them a chance to raise concerns about their safety "blatantly defies this Court's preliminary injunctions," lawyers representing the migrants argued in an emergency motion filed in federal court in Boston, where Murphy last month issued a preliminary injunction barring the Trump administration from deporting noncitizens to any country other than their place of origin without due process.

“The allegedly imminent removals, as reported by news agencies,” the judge said, “would clearly violate this Court’s Order.”

“The Department of Homeland Security may not evade this injunction by ceding control over non-citizens or the enforcement of its immigration responsibilities to any other agency, including but not limited to the Department of Defence,” Murphy added.

Since the illegal deportations of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador, US judges have blocked further deportations under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which was last used to incarcerate Japanese American citizens during World War II.

Libya, meanwhile, denied that it has agreed to received deportees from the United States. Libya has been locked in a civil war since strongman Omar Ghadafi was killed 11 years ago.

The Libyan government, "categorically denies the existence of any agreement or coordination with it regarding the reception of any migrants deported from the United States,” the party in power said.

The plan to deport would-be deportees to Libya was first reported by Reuters. 

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week hinted that Washington was looking to expand the number of countries where it may deport people beyond El Salvador.

“The further away from America, the better,” Rubio said at a cabinet meeting at the White House last Wednesday.

Abuses against detained migrants in in Libya have been widely documented, with UN investigators saying they had evidence of possible crimes against humanity, including accounts of murder, torture, enslavement, extrajudicial killings and rape.

The Trump administration had deported 152,000 people as of May 5, according to Department of Homeland Security.

Dawn raids and the threat of being arrested at work , school or during a regularly scheduled check-in with ICE, have spread fear and uncertainty among people across the US, including more than 1.3 million people from Asia, amid Trump's crackdown against immigrants without documentatin.

Nguyen said his client, whose name he wouldn't reveal, said his client was told: ‘We’re deporting you to Libya,’ even though he hadn’t signed the form, he didn’t know what the form was,” according to Reuters.

Nguyen told the news agency his client, originally from Vietnam, has lived in the US since the 1990s but was complying with the law by checking wi with the government when he was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) earlier this year.

"Many people are now afraid to go to work, visit their places of worship, attend school, or even seek medical care out of fear of encountering immigration enforcement," said Martin Kim, immigration advocacy director for the Washington-based civil rights group Asian Americans Advancing Justice — AAJC.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Trump's attempt to undermine the courts is "unlawful and dangerous," says AG Bonta

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, right, challenges many of Donald Trump policies.

Donald Trump's attacks against the judiciary are "unlawful and dangerous," says California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

Bonta, the state's first Filipino Amerifcan AG and California's top law officer, continues to challenge Trump's flurry of executive orders and actions. 

“More than two centuries ago, our founding fathers established three co-equal branches of government; each branch designed to act as a check on the others and curb the misuse of power by those in higher office. Today, that foundational tenet of American democracy is being stress-tested," says Bonta.

Trump's administration is frustrated with the legal challenges against Trump's attempts to drastically downsize the federal government and the vital services it provides for trhe safety and health of Americans. Most recently, when Homeland Security went against a judges' orders by deporting to El Salvador, hundreds of allegedly members of a Venezuelan gang.

Last Saturday, March 22, federal authorities flew the Venezuelans to El Salvador in the dead of night and without providing evidence of their gang membership and denying them their rights to defend themselves in court.

The deportation charters flew the Venezuelans to El Salvador, which agreed to receive the gang suspects after getting $6-million from the US, according to th White House.

Trump justified the deportations by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 — the sme law ussed to incarcerate 120,000 Japanese Americans during WWII — to deport the gang suspects. Japanese Americans and immigration advocates say the use of Alien Enemies Act in this case is illegal since it is only meant to to be used in wartime.

US District Judge James Boasberg agreed and issued an order hours after Trump invoked the wartime power stopping the administration from using it to deport anyone. However, by the time the judge's order was given, the deportees were already in the air and Trump officials, believing they were above the law, ignored the judge's order and continued onto El Salvador.

 
The judge's order sparked anger within the White House Trump and his followers argued that a district judge should not beallowed to affect national security. Some members of Congress are calling to impeach Boasberg.

"The Trump Administration has repeatedly attempted to exercise authority it does not have – authority that belongs to Congress or the states – and in doing so, violated clear legal requirements set forth in the law and in the US. Constitution," says Bonta. "These actions have required the co-equal judicial branch to order the Trump Administration to follow the law. At times, the Trump Administration has acted in contravention of those court orders.

The Venezuelans deported by Trump are being housed in an El Salvador facility.

"These actions are both unlawful and dangerous," he stressed. "Our constitutional democracy rests upon a legal system in which attorneys dutifully represent their clients, facts and law are presented to judges, and after careful consideration, those judges issue orders that must be followed.

"Attacks to undermine due process, discredit or intimidate our independent judiciary, undercut state sovereignty, or seek retribution against those who dare exercise their First Amendment right to take positions different from – or in opposition to – the President are either unlawful, inconsistent with the foundational principles of our American legal system, or both," Bonta says in a statement issued from California's Department of Justice.

"President Trump’s demands for the co-equal judiciary to capitulate to the executive branch are not normal. His decree threatening sanctions and retaliation against attorneys and law firms he dislikes is not normal. These actions threaten the very foundations of our democracy, legal system, and the rule of law," Bonta continues.

Bonta, along with 20 other Attorney's General, have banded together to challenge several of Trump's initiatives to whittle down the United States' democracy. Besides his immigration policies, they have filed lawsuits to counter the dismantling the Department of Education and Trump's desire to get rid of birthright citizenship, which is written into law by the Constitution.

"We must continue to speak up and push back when our democratic norms are violated, our legal system undermined, and our laws broken. We must hold the President and his Administration accountable to the Constitution they swore to uphold. As California Attorney General, I promise I will,” vowed Bonta.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

ICE silently deports Cambodian American parolee

SQNews

While he was in San Quentin, Phoeun You worked on the prison newspaper.

After spending 25 years in prison, a recently paroled Cambodian American immigrant was deported Tuesday without notifying his family to a country that he has not seen since he was 5-years old when he arrived in the US as a refugee.

“I am still right here with you,” said Phoeun You from Cambodia in a message to his family and supporters. “It’s not over until it’s over and we’re going to keep going.”

“He gave us a call at 1 in the morning and I was just really relieved to hear his voice that he was safe,” You’s attorney, So Young Lee, told NBC.

Phoeun You’s family and supporters learned Tuesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported Phoeun to Cambodia, while he has been in ICE custody.

His family and supporters are still working for his return, pinning their hope on a pardon on California's Gov. Gavin Newsom. 

After learning ICE was transporting Phoeun to an airport Aug. 17 - a process shrouded in secrecy - community groups and elected officials around the state launched an all-out surge of activity to urger Newsom to grant Phoeun a pardon. Despite the deportation, the governor can still pardon Phoeun and reunite him with his family and community. Community members are also raising funds to support Phoeun in Cambodia, a country to which he has no ties.

“There are no words to fully capture the cruelty of this moment," said Lee, You's attorney.

"Phoeun should be home with his family, not deported to a country he escaped as a child. Last month, extremist right-wing justices on the Supreme Court continued their efforts to roll back progress on equality and justice for immigrant communities. That may have stopped the Biden administration from protecting tens of thousands of families from ICE deportation, but that shouldn’t stop California,” 

“There’s still time for Gov. Newsom to affirm the best of California’s values, pardon Phoeun so that he could come home, and support the VISION Act so that we never again turn our neighbors and loved ones over to ICE,” said Lee, an immigrant rights attorney at Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus. 

In recent weeks, there has been an outpouring of support for Phoeun. More than a hundred people, including State Senators Lena Gonzalez, Nancy Skinner, and Scott Weiner; Assemblymembers Mia Bonta, Alex Lee and Patrick O’Donnell; Oakland City Councilmembers; and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, have sent letters to Governor Newsom supporting Phoeun’s pardon. The Oakland City Council also unanimously voted on a resolution urging Governor Newsom to pardon Phoeun and stop his deportation.

“It's very sad that Governor Newsom could have done more to intervene but chose not to,” said James Bunyou, Phoeun’s oldest brother. “He isn't listening to our community outcry. Our family would like to thank all of the friends that came out to support him and fight for Phoeun to stay.”

In July, approximately 100 Bay Area residents, faith leaders, elected officials, and Phoeun’s parents and siblings rallied on the steps of the State Building in Oakland urging the governor to immediately pardon Phoeun and to support the VISION Act (AB 937) so that no one endures what Phoeun and his family have gone through. The VISION Act is a landmark racial and immigrant justice bill that would end the practice of handing over community members like Phoeun for deportation.

Despite the California Board of Parole Hearings recommending Phoeun’s release from state prison and reunification with his family and community, California’s prison system nonetheless chose to transfer Phoeun to ICE, leading to his deportation.

Phoeun You & His Family and Community

Phoeun You’s family survived the Cambodian genocide by fleeing to a refugee camp in Thailand. Upon arriving in the U.S. as a child, Phoeun faced discrimination as an immigrant. His family endured poverty and violence living in under-resourced neighborhoods, and Phoeun joined a gang for protection and belonging. 

At 20, Phoeun’s only way of protection and survival was violence. In response to an attack on him and his family, Phoeun opened fire that resulted in his incarceration. After serving 25 years, in August 2021, the California Board of Parole Hearings recommended Phoeun be released from state prison in recognition of his rehabilitation and service. On his release date, California’s prison system allowed  ICE to immediately detain him that eventually led to his deportation.

Phoeun's family, friends, advocates, and many formerly incarcerated community members have been organizing to protect him from deportation -- emphasizing how much he has transformed and his leadership as a founding member of ROOTS (Restoring Our Original True Selves), a certified counselor by Bay Area Women Against Rape, and a mentor to many other Southeast Asian refugees who were incarcerated at a young age.

VISION ACT (AB 937)

AB 937 (Carrillo), the VISION Act, would ensure that once a person has earned their release from state prison or local jail, they are not transferred to abusive and possibly deadly ICE detention, and instead are able to return to their loved ones and rebuild their lives. This includes a person who has completed their sentence, been granted parole, had charges dropped, or been granted release by a judge. 

The bill is currently waiting for a vote by the state Senate, after passing the state Assembly and two Senate committees.

A recent decision by far-right Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, limiting the Biden administration’s discretion in deportation cases, underscores the urgency for California to grant clemency to Phoeun and to stop turning people who have served their time over to ICE.

At least eight California counties have already ended the practice of handing immigrant parolees to ICE, as have Illinois, Oregon and Washington, D.C.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter. 

California must stop turning over incarcerated firefighters over to ICE

Incarcerated immigrants like Phi Pham, above, are fighting California's wildfires
and deportation by ICE.

By Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo and Phi Pham

Earlier this summer, as devastating wildfires were about to erupt across California, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents approached the firehouse at Folsom State Prison.

But they weren’t there to help fight the terrifying blazes that have now burned 1.3 million acres this year and counting.

Instead, they had come to detain Phi Pham, a Vietnamese refugee and incarcerated firefighter who had earned release from state prison.

If not for where he was born, Phi would have been free that day. He would have reunited with his family in Hayward, California, and pursued his dream of becoming a professional firefighter.

Instead, under a cruel state policy, prison officials transferred Phi to ICE. Even as California’s wildfires grow with terrifying speed, he now languishes in an ICE detention center in Colorado.

As a state legislator and an immigrant myself, I am angered by the double-punishment that Phi — and so many other immigrants who served their time, including other firefighters — have been subjected to.

Working with a broad coalition of organizations across the state, I’m proud to author the VISION Act (AB 937), which would protect refugees and immigrants from being funneled into ICE detention when they earn release from jails and prisons.

With a crucial Senate hearing, Thursday, August 26, I am hopeful that my colleagues in the Senate, and soon after, Governor Newsom, will champion this bill.

As legislators gather in Sacramento, Phi will remain locked in ICE detention a thousand miles away from his family and community. While he can’t join next week’s hearing, I want to share a message Phi sent me from detention:

“If the VISION Act was the law back in June, I would be working right now to become a professional firefighter to protect our state.

I came to the U.S. when I was only four months old. My parents were refugees from Vietnam who survived the war, and I was born in a refugee camp in the Philippines. Growing up in Hayward, my family never had much. My parents struggled, and I was bullied at school. Fearing for my safety, I joined a gang for protection.

Ten years ago, when I was 20 years old, I made the biggest mistake in my life and shot a man during an argument at an In-and-Out. What I did was wrong. During my time in prison, I worked hard to change my life and to make amends for the harm I caused. When I became a firefighter, I was proud to protect people and give back to the community. After a decade focusing on my rehabilitation, I earned release through the rigorous board of parole hearing process

But now that I’ve been turned over to ICE and ordered deported, I don’t know what will happen. I am afraid I will be deported to a country I have never stepped foot in and become homeless.”

Phi’s story underscores that when we use our state and local resources to transfer people who’ve earned release to ICE, we ignore their hard fought rehabilitation and their contributions to our communities.

Phi is one of a growing number of currently and formerly incarcerated community members who’ve lived the pain of ICE transfers and are calling for change. He joins domestic violence survivors like Gabby Solano and Liyah Birru, community leaders like Joe Mejia and Carlos Muñoz, and formerly incarcerated firefighters Kao Saelee, Bounchan Keola and Leonel.

These brave voices are the anchoring force for a statewide coalition that’s 180 organizations strong. They’ve won the support of local governments, legislative caucuses and labor unions. And they have transformed public opinion, with a new poll conducted by UC San Diego showing two thirds of California voters support the VISION Act.

Phi should be home right now, preparing to fight the monstrous fires threatening our state. Governor Newsom has a powerful opportunity to right this wrong by issuing a pardon for Phi — and signing the VISION Act when it reaches his desk.

About the authors: Wendy Carrillo is a member of the California State Assembly and lead author of the Vision Act, AB 937. Phi Pham is an incarcerated firefighter now in ICE custody with a pending deportation proceeding.

Refugee who fought California wildfires, now fights to avoid deportation

Kao Ta Saelee on the fire lines.

Some days, the smoke from California's burning grass and forests was so thick that firefighter Kao Ta Saelee couldn't see five feet in front of him. 

He was one of the thousands of incarcerated people California uses to fight the wildfires raging through the state. He gets paid $2 to $5 a day for the hot, furious and often dangerous work, clearing brush or saving lives and property.

“It’s hard work, but for me it was worth it to see the look on people’s faces when they know they got people out there trying to help them save their land and their homes,” said Saelee.

After serving 22 of his 25-year sentence, he was eligible for early released because of good behavior. He was supposed to be released August 6. When his release date came, his sister was waiting on the other side of the barbed-wire fence to take him home. However, instead of letting him go free, he was reshackled and handed over to agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and put in a van that drove away. He never got to see his sister.

As a 2-year old toddler, he and his family were refugees from war-torn Laos. When he committed a crime when he was young, he became eligible for deportation. First, ICE separated him from his California family and support system, including his lawyers by flying him to Louisiana, where he will be detained until he is sent back to a country he never knew.

His story is a familiar one for Southeast Asian refugees who were placed in neighborhoods full of violence and crime. After being beaten by a gang of boys, he began to seek protection by associating with other disaffected youth.

At 18, he was convicted of robbery and attempted murder and sentenced to 25 years behind bars.

Even though Newsom has declared California to be a sanctuary state asking law enforcement officers not to assist ICE activities, the states' Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has continued to defy the resolution an cooperate with ICE by informing them of refugees in detention and when they will released.

“I paid my debt to society, and I think I should have a chance to be with my family,” Saelee told the Guardian in a recent phone interview from the ICE jail. “What is the point of sending somebody back to a country where they don’t have no family? I would be frightened out of my mind.”

California Assemblyman Rob Bonta is part of a contingent of lawmakers who wrote  a letter on Oct. 1 asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to pardon Saelee and thus prevent his pending deportation.

He and the other legislators urged the governor to expunge Saelee's record, a new law that goes into effect in January of 2021 when he would be eligible for because of his service on the fire lines. 

"While incarcerated, Mr. Saelee chose to risk his life to serve California," said the letter.  "He has shown that he deserves a second chance," 

California sues Trump administration for telling foreign students: risk your health by attending classes or face deportation

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

International students at UC Davis are reassured: 'You belong here."

California is the first state to sue the Trump administration latest attempt to limit entry of immigrants and visitors from other countries.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley, and California State University Chancellor Timothy White Thursday (July 9)  announced the State of California is filing a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s unlawful policy that threatens to exacerbate the spread of COVID-19 and exile hundreds of thousands of college students studying in the United States through the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP).

“With this lawsuit, California is standing up for the 21,000 international students who attend our community colleges and standing up for our right to continue teaching and learning in a safe and responsible way during the pandemic,” said California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley.

The lawsuit by the Attorney General comes after the University of California announced its lawsuit against the federal agencies, the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.

California's suit is also separate from the lawsuit filed Harvard, MIT and Northeastern University on Wednesday.

“To UC’s international students, I say: ‘We support you and regret the additional chaos ICE’s action has caused,’ ” said UC Board of Regents Chair John A. Pérez.

More than 160,000 international students attend California colleges and universities, according to NAFSA, an association of international educators — including about 40,000 at UC. China and India are far and away the top two home countries of international students.

UC Davis senior Kymberley Chu, who is Malaysian and studying international relations and anthropology, called forcing students to attend in-person classes or face deportation  malicious and inhumane. “It’s just saying, ‘I’m gonna kick out all these foreigners, despite the fact that they have ties and relationships, people, places and the things we’re doing,’” Chu said. “We already have lives here.”

The decision to strictly enforced the rule amidst a pandemic would affect students on F-1 academic visas and M-1 vocational education visas.

At a time when COVID-19 cases are surging across the state, immigration policy requires international students to take classes in person — putting themselves, teachers, other students, and the community at large at risk of getting and spreading the coronavirus — or be subject to deportation.

Beyond the myriad significant direct harms to individual students, the mission of California’s higher education institutions would suffer if international students are forced to disenroll because of the Trump Administration’s arbitrary actions. It will also likely further burden educational institutions at a time when the state faces significant budget shortfalls and schools are already struggling to confront the economic and public health impacts of COVID-19.

"Shame on the Trump Administration for risking not only the education opportunities for students who earned the chance to go to college, but now their health and well-being as well,” said Becerra. “President Trump appears set to do just that — amidst a global pandemic of historic proportions. Not on our watch. No one graduates more students from college or assembles a more talented and diverse group of future leaders than California. ... We'll see the Trump Administration in court."

As the state with the largest university systems in the nation, California is committed to doing everything it can to protect hardworking people who have earned the right to study and contribute to our communities.

The Trump Administration’s shift in policy on SEVP flies directly in the face of guidance it previously issued and advertised as being in place for the duration of the pandemic emergency, which universities and students across the country relied upon to make plans for the upcoming school year and protect the safety and well-being of their students. 

Moreover, with new COVID-19 cases averaging more than 7,500 a day in California over the last week, the Trump Administration policy threatens to also turn California’s colleges and universities into “super-spreaders” of the disease.

"Students are experiencing extreme changes and obstacles in their education as a result of the pandemic, but now ICE is treating international students like political pawns and dictating educational choices and leveraging immigration status as a weapon," said a statement from Asian Americans Advancing Justice. "This new move is another notch of cruelty in a long list of white supremacist policies targeting the immigrant community."

ICE: Foreign students taking online classes face deportations

What a difference a year makes. Chinese students who can afford it seek a US education.

UPDATED: 11 p.m., July 7

Thousands of international students who are attending US schools will have to leave the country or risk deportation if their universities switch to online-only courses, according to a press release from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“Active students currently in the United States enrolled in such programs must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status,” ICE’s release said. “If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.”

The rule applies to holders of F-1 and M-1 nonimmigrant visas, which allow nonimmigrant students to pursue academic and vocational coursework, respectively.

More than 1 million of the country's higher education students come from overseas, according to the nonprofit Institute of International Education.

The top 10 sending places of origin and percentage of total foreign student enrollment are: China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Brazil, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, and Mexico. China alone has about 370,000 students studying in the US.

Many universities are considering a move to online courses as a strategy to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. 

"We think this is going to create more confusion and more uncertainty," said Brad Farnsworth, vice president of the American Council on Education, which represents about 1,800 colleges and universities. "What we were hoping to see was more appreciation for all the different possible nuances that campuses will be exploring."

Nine percent of colleges are planning for a fully online fall semester, 24 percent are proposing a hybrid model, and 60 percent are planning for an in-person fall semester, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. 

The same day ICE issued its announcement, Harvard University announced that all its classes will be online this coming semester.

ICE's announcement shifts away from the exceptions put in place during the spring and summer terms, which allowed international students residing in the U.S. to take a fully online course load as colleges transitioned to online instruction in response to the coronavirus pandemic. 

More than 90 percent of international students chose to remain stateside in the spring, according to a survey by the Institute for International Education. Should the pandemic worsen, as Trump's own health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci has suggested, the new rule would not allow such flexibility for those students.

Most schools were caught by surprise by the ICE announcement and are still trying to how to respond or adjust to the directive.

“ICE’s announcement is perplexing, given that some degree of remote instruction is necessary for colleges and universities to protect the safety and well-being of their communities and the public at large, while still allowing students to continue their studies," said University of California President Janet Napolitano. "Challenges and uncertainty related to COVID-19 are already weighing heavily on students; now is the worst time to burden them further with anxiety.

“UC will assess fully how these changes will affect our campuses and our international students. However, this much is abundantly clear: The Trump administration’s latest actions impacting international students."
California State UniversityChancellor Timothy White announced in May that the university's classes would remain primarily online during the fall term due to the pandemic. However, he said limited exceptions would be made for "in-person activities that cannot be delivered virtually, are indispensable to the university's core mission and can be conducted within the rigorous standards of safety and welfare."

"We are currently reviewing the new guidance to determine how to reduce impacts to students and will provide information to campuses and students in the near future. The Chancellor's Office is currently working with individual campuses to re-review online and in-person offerings to determine if they meet the new ICE directives," CSU said in a statement.

The American Council on Education, a higher education lobbying group, also condemned the rule change in a statement issued Monday afternoon.

"At a time when institutions are doing everything they can to help reopen our country, we need flexibility, not a big step in the wrong direction," wrote ACE President Ted Mitchell. "ICE should allow any international student with a valid visa to continue their education regardless of whether a student is receiving his or her education online, in person, or through a combination of both, whether in the United States or in their home country, during this unprecedented global health crisis."

Following is the press release ICE released Monday:

WASHINGTON – The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) announced modifications Monday to temporary exemptions for nonimmigrant students taking online classes due to the pandemic for the fall 2020 semester. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security plans to publish the procedures and responsibilities in the Federal Register as a Temporary Final Rule.

Temporary exemptions for the fall 2020 semester include:

1. Nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States. The U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States. Active students currently in the United States enrolled in such programs must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status. If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.
2. Nonimmigrant F-1 students attending schools operating under normal in-person classes are bound by existing federal regulations. Eligible F students may take a maximum of one class or three credit hours online.
3. Nonimmigrant F-1 students attending schools adopting a hybrid model—that is, a mixture of online and in person classes—will be allowed to take more than one class or three credit hours online. These schools must certify to SEVP, through the Form I-20, “Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status,” certifying that the program is not entirely online, that the student is not taking an entirely online course load this semester, and that the student is taking the minimum number of online classes required to make normal progress in their degree program. The above exemptions do not apply to F-1 students in English language training programs or M-1 students pursing vocational degrees, who are not permitted to enroll in any online courses.

Schools should update their information in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) within 10 days of the change if they begin the fall semester with in-person classes but are later required to switch to only online classes, or a nonimmigrant student changes their course selections, and as a result, ends up taking an entirely online course load. Nonimmigrant students within the United States are not permitted to take a full course of study through online classes. If students find themselves in this situation, they must leave the country or take alternative steps to maintain their nonimmigrant status such as a reduced course load or appropriate medical leave.

Due to COVID-19, SEVP instituted a temporary exemption regarding online courses for the spring and summer semesters. This policy permitted nonimmigrant students to take more online courses than normally permitted by federal regulation to maintain their nonimmigrant status during the COVID-19 emergency.

F-1 nonimmigrant students pursue academic coursework and M-1 nonimmigrant students pursue vocational coursework while studying in the United States.

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.

New court ruling allows Cambodian American deportee's return home

COURTESY OF METH FAMILY

Veasna Meth, second from left, was greeted by family and friends at San Francisco International Airport.

After five years in Cambodia and nine years in a U.S. prison, Veasna Meth is finally home.

“I knew one day I would be able to get back,” he told the Sacramento Bee Thursday (Mar. 1) upon his return to San Francisco International Airport.

Home for Meth is Sacramento, Calif. where he he has lived he grew up. He was 1-year old when he and his family immigrated to the U.S. as refugees. Between 1975 and 2000, the US accepted 145,000 Cambodian refugees as part of an influx of Cambodians displaced by war.

He was deported under Obama-era policies that prioritized the deportation of immigrants who had committed violent crimes.

In 2008, at the age of 19, Meth burglarized an unoccupied house by breaking in with friends. As soon as finished his year-long sentenced ICE tried to deport him. However, a judge ruled that his offense didn't justify deportation.

ICE persisted however and in their second try, they found a judge that approved Meth's deportation in 2014.

The Trump administration began visa sanctions on Cambodia, along with three other countries, in September 2017 to force them to accept deportees.

In April of last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Sessions v. Dimaya (Fiipino American James Dimaya) that the definition of “crime of violence” – which is grounds for deportation – was unconstitutionally vague. With the decision, the California conviction of residential burglary is no longer a removable offense, and within 30 days, Meth's attorneys from the San Francisco-based Asian Law Caucus challenged Meth’s old removal order.

“Mr Meth’s return from deportation gives hope that others will also be able to reunite with their families in the United States,” said Kevin Lo, one of Meth's lawyers. He notes that Meth is the second Cambodian to return home, who coincidentally is another Sacramento resident.

“I’m excited to see my kids and to be back on American soil,” Meth told the Khmer Times. “I don’t quite know how to express it, but I just want to go outside and kiss the ground.”

The Trump administration began visa sanctions on Cambodia, along with three other countries, in September 2017 to force them to accept deportees. About 1,900 Cambodians currently live in the United States with deportation orders. ICE has ramped up roundups and raids and expects to deport about 200 Cambodian refugees a year.

“For me to get deported to a country I wasn’t born in, it’s crazy,” Meth told the Sacramento Bee. “Growing up, all I thought I was, was a citizen. ... Nobody ever taught me, ‘Hey if you commit a crime you’re going to get deported’ (until) it was too late.”

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Christmas Eve pardons include six Cambodians detained by ICE

Supporters created this flyer to keep Sear Un (shown with his wife) from being deported.

ON CHRISTMAS EVE, six Cambodian refugees slated for deportation were pardoned by California Gov. Jerry Brown.

In the waning days of his final term in office, Brown pardoned 131 individuals including six Cambodian refugees including one who was on a flight was to Texas last week to join other detained Cambodians for deportation to Cambodia.

Because of Brown's action, Sear Un was able to spend Christmas with his family. Sear immigrated to the United States from Cambodia in 1984, fleeing genocide at the age of 7. 

In 1998, Sear was convicted for a residential burglary that netted him a total of $120. In the two decades since, Sear never committed another crime and instead dedicated himself to his family and community.

The past year has been devastating for Southeast Asian refugee communities as ICE carried out the largest raids on the Cambodian and Vietnamese communities in U.S. history. 

Last week ICE was flying Sear and 35 other Cambodians to Texas, where another flight was scheduled to deport them to Cambodia. During the flight, Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus attorneys learned of Brown’s pardon. That pardon pulled Sear off of this deportation flight and allows him time to reopen his case in immigration court.

“I have a lot of gratitude for my family and community for standing up for me,” said Sear Un. “I hope that future California governors will continue to recognize the injustice afflicting our communities today and act to end the suffering that continues to tear our families apart.”

“We are profoundly grateful that Sear is home for the holidays and that he was released from ICE custody in time for his daughter’s 4th birthday,” said Kevin Lo, Staff Attorney at Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus. 

“While we applaud Governor Brown for pardoning Sear, ICE continues to raid the Cambodian community every four months. We hope Governor-Elect (Gavin) Newsom will continue using pardons to prevent these unjust deportations.”

The deportations are part of Donald Trump's immigration policy of deporting individuals with criminal records even if they had served their sentences. About 2000 Cambodian Americans, many who had never set foot in Cambodia, are on ICE's list to deport.

Brown's pardons don't automatically stop deportation proceedings, but they eliminate the state convictions on which federal authorities might base deportation decisions. That gives the men's lawyers strong legal arguments before immigration judges to try to prevent their removal from the country.

"I would say that it is absolutely certain that there are other people on board who could have reopened their removal orders," Lo added in an email to Voice of America.

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Deportation of Cambodian American reversed

ASIAN LAW CAUCUS

Phorn Tem is greeted at tSan Francisco International Airport by family and friends.

ASAM NEWS

A CALIFORNIA MAN deported to Cambodia for a crime he committed nine years ago is back on American soil with familiy and friends.
The Sacramento Bee reports Phorn Tem returned to Sacramento Friday (Nov. 2) night to kisses and hugs from his surprised mother.

Run Nhei thought she was at San Francisco International Airport to greet a Cambodian embassy official, not her son.

Tem was one of 15 Cambodian nationals caught in a roundup by ICE agents during a roundup of up to 200 people last fall. He had been convicted of possession of marijuana when the 33 year old was 24.

“It was horrible,” he said. “I lost hope.” Tem said to the Bee about his time in Cambodia. He was born in a refugee camp in Thailand and was just 5 when he moved to the United States.

“Now that he’s back she’s finally going to be able to sleep,” said Phoeun Tem, Phorn’s sister. “Now that he’s back it’s a weight off our shoulders.”

Advancing Justice, Asian Law Caucus believes Phorn Tem is the first person to return from deportation to Cambodia.

“We’re proud to be a part of his journey and inspired to continue fighting for justice,” the group said in a Facebook post.

According to the Bee, Tem was deported one day before a superior court judge reversed his conviction on a prejudicial error.

Attorney Melanie Kim of Advancing Justice, Asian Law Caucus, fought to successfully reverse his conviction.

In order to secure his return, Kim filed a motion to reopen and terminate his deportation order.

“I filed a motion to reopen and terminate his deportation order arguing that because the underlying conviction was vacated, the deportation order is invalid,” Kim said. “The immigration judge agreed.”

When news of the reversal reached Tem, it took his breath away.

“Well, once the U.S embassy counselor in Phnom Penh told me I was in the clear by DHS and arranged for my departure back to the U.S. my whole body shook and I was holding back my tears,” Tem told AsAm News in an email. “Then I feel like passing out, couldn’t breathe. Took a deep breath and finally felt relief and kept on saying thanks to one of the counselors.”

Tem says it feels great to be back at home in the nice weather. He enjoys being able to take warm showers and sleep in a soft bed.

“I just enjoy every little thing that I took for granted, especially spending time with all my family here,” Tem said.

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