Tony Pham steps down as acting director of ICE

Tony Pham was the first refugee to head Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

After serving for five months as the acting director of ICE, Tony Pham is stepping down.

“I am grateful for the Trump Administration for providing me the single highest honor of my career in serving my adopted country as both the Principal Legal Advisor and the Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” Pham said in a statement.

“Leading a law enforcement agency with such a committed workforce has been the honor of a lifetime. I have gotten to meet with many extraordinary employees across the United States. I will continue to be that tireless advocate for the hard working men and women at ICE. However, at the end of the year, I will be returning home to Richmond, VA to be closer to my family.”

After being appointed by Donald Trump in August to succeed the retiring Matt Albence, Pham's tenure was controversial for Asian Americans, the group with the highest rate of immigration in recent years.

Phan came to the U.S. as a refugee fleeing Vietnam as the South Vietnamese government fell to North Vietnam forces. While heading ICE, his actions were seen as enforcing the Trump administration's efforts to stem immigration or portray immigrants in a negative light,

“Five months ago, we said it was time to bring human rights home. Instead Tony Pham chose to promote Trump’s apartheid worldview, and turned his back on refugee communities, here and abroad," said community nonprofit VietRISE in a statement. "Tony Pham will not easily wash off the stain of abuse and corruption that he supervised and oversaw."

Vietnamese American leader arrested for protesting ICE director

Nancy Nguyen, a leader in Philadelphia's Vietnamese American community.

A prominent leader of a Vietnamese American community organization in Philadelphia was arrested Thursday night because of allegations of trespassing and littering during a protest against an ICE official who is a Vietnamese refugee.

Nancy Nguyen, 38, cofounder and executive director of VietLead, was held in police custody until Friday afternoon when she was released on her own recognizance.

On Sept. 9, she was protesting at the Virginia home of ICE head Tony Pham, by signs on his lawn expressing their concern over the treatment of federal immigration detainees, according to news reports.

VietLead asserted in a statement that Nguyen was arrested “on bogus charges for her activism in the immigrant rights movement.”

Newly named ICE director Pham told WRVA Newsradio, “It’s so disappointing that our level of discourse in today’s society has disintegrated to the [point] where individuals, as you saw, thought it was OK to target a mom and target children when the real protest should’ve been at my office.”

“Tony Pham continues to use his refugee narrative to justify his qualifications to lead an institution that continues to enact state-sanctioned violence against Black and Brown communities," said a statement from VietLead.

City Councilmember Helen Gym said she was “deeply disturbed about what appears to be a gross overreach to imprison a mother of two and a major Asian American leader in our community."

Vietnamese refugee tagged to head ICE

ICE

Virginia attorney Tony Pham has been nominated to head immigration agency.

Things are so bad in this country that we don't know whether or not to celebrate that a former Vietnamese refugee has been nominated to run Immigration and Customs Enforcement, AKA ICE.

Ordinarily the selection of Tony Pham to run ICE, infamous in the immigrant communities, would be cause for celebration, but under Donald Trump's direction, the nomination is being viewed with suspicion as a political act.

“When we came to this nation seeking hope and opportunity as refugees, I signed a promissory note to America," says Pham. "I owe a debt for my freedoms and opportunities which must be repaid. I do so by committing to my community as a dutiful citizen and to pass along my experiences and opportunities to serve those around me.”

The Washington Examiner first reported the news on Tuesday. The appointment drew criticism from Asian Americans community advocates.

“It is alarming that Pham, a Southeast Asian refugee, will further expand the Administration’s cruel attacks on Southeast Asian American immigrants. Pham’s identity as a Vietnamese refugee does not help our communities and instead gives the Trump Administration political coverage in their efforts to harm our communities,” said Katrina Dizon Mariategue, acting executive director of SEARAC, Southeast Asian Refugee Action Center.

“Despite a global pandemic, ICE has continued to target immigrant communities, recently deporting 30 Vietnamese Americans. Regardless of leadership, we must defund ICE, end mandatory detention, and stop deportations. SEARAC remains committed to working with our communities to fight the detention and deportation of refugees and immigrants.”

Under the Trump administration, ICE has seen multiple leaders come and go, including Matt Albence, who announced his resignation in July.  Albence was never nominated to be the permanent, Senate-confirmed director of the agency, thus was holding position illegally according to critics. Pham will replace current acting Customs and Border Protection commissioner Mark Morgan. Pham will also be an acting director.

Ironically, the former refugee has spent the last few months leading ICE prosecutors, during which the agency has continued to implement Trump's harsh immigration policies under the unforgiving guidance of Stephen Miller, Trump's point man on immigration issues, the Trump administration has gutted the refugee program, cutting the number of refugees allowed to come to the country this year to 18,000, down from the target of 110,000 during the end of the Obama administration.

Pham came to the US as a young boy in 1975 after the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War. Ten years later, according to an email he sent to ICE attorneys when he first started, Pham and his family became US citizens. He also emphasized his family had followed the “lawful path to citizenship.”

Pham graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1995 and from the University of Richmond School of Law in 1999. He served as a judicial clerk in the Circuit Court of Henrico County before becoming a prosecutor in the Richmond Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, according to his bio on the ICE website.

In 2008, after eight successful years as a prosecutor, Pham transitioned his litigation skills to the Richmond City Attorney’s Office as the Public Safety attorney where he handled all civil rights litigation on behalf of the City and the police officers. In 2010, Tony was selected by the Honorable C.T. Woody Jr. to serve as the in-house counsel for a Constitutionally elected sheriff. His work entailed providing legal and operational guidance to an organization of 600 full-time employees with an average population of 1,200 inmates.

Pham was recognized for his leadership in the Asian American community when Governor Kaine appointed him to serve on the Virginia Asian Advisory Board in 2010, and later reappointed by Governor Robert F. McDonnell, says the bio.

Recently, Pham served as the Superintendent of the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail managing a $26 million budget and 136 full-time employees. In his new position with ICE, Pham will manage an agency of 20,000 employees scattered over 400 offices across the nation.

The agency has a. troubling reputation as it implements policies that have greatly reduced the number of immigrants, legal and undocumented, coming to this country. ICE still has thousands in custody at the Mexico-US border, including children who have been separated from their parents for years.

“As a seasoned leader with DHS, Tony will ensure ICE continues to safeguard our country’s borders from crime and illegal immigration,” an ICE spokesperson said.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.

UPDATED: 3 P.M., Aug. 26 to include comments from SEARAC.