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.
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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, reports NBC Bay Area. 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.
