Austin Jenkins
(2009-08-18)
OLYMPIA, WA (N3) - He got in trouble with the law. And now a 33-year old Federal Way (Washington) man faces deportation to Cambodia - even though he left that country as a small child. Family and friends call it a miscarriage of justice. It's one of thousands of similar cases involving children of Cambodian refugees in the United States. According to advocates, Chhan (Chan) is one of thousands of children of Cambodian refugees in the United States who have either been deported or face deportation because of crimes they committed here. KPLU's Austin Jenkins reports.
Full story
Chhoeuth Chhan is being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma - and could be deported any day now. Chhan was just two years old when his parents fled the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian killing fields and came to America. Chhan was a legal permanent resident, but never applied to become a full-fledged U-S citizen. Then in 2000, living in Western Washington, he spent a year in jail for second degree assault and unlawful imprisonment, stemming from a domestic violence incident. That was enough for Chan to lose his green card and get a deportation order back to his birth country. After years of appeals and delays, Chan has now received the final paperwork he needs for the US government to "remove" him to Cambodia. That's why he was recently locked back up. For his mother Ya Chan it's a nightmare.
Ya Chhan, Chhoeuth's Mother: "If they send my son back to Cambodia I lost my American dream."
Chhan says her son has no connection to Cambodia since he grew up in the U.S. A spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement says U-S immigration law is clear: if you're a lawful permanent resident and you commit an aggravated felony, you lose your right to live in this country. I'm Austin Jenkins in Olympia.
(2009-08-18)
OLYMPIA, WA (N3) - He got in trouble with the law. And now a 33-year old Federal Way (Washington) man faces deportation to Cambodia - even though he left that country as a small child. Family and friends call it a miscarriage of justice. It's one of thousands of similar cases involving children of Cambodian refugees in the United States. According to advocates, Chhan (Chan) is one of thousands of children of Cambodian refugees in the United States who have either been deported or face deportation because of crimes they committed here. KPLU's Austin Jenkins reports.
Full story
Chhoeuth Chhan is being held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma - and could be deported any day now. Chhan was just two years old when his parents fled the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian killing fields and came to America. Chhan was a legal permanent resident, but never applied to become a full-fledged U-S citizen. Then in 2000, living in Western Washington, he spent a year in jail for second degree assault and unlawful imprisonment, stemming from a domestic violence incident. That was enough for Chan to lose his green card and get a deportation order back to his birth country. After years of appeals and delays, Chan has now received the final paperwork he needs for the US government to "remove" him to Cambodia. That's why he was recently locked back up. For his mother Ya Chan it's a nightmare.
Ya Chhan, Chhoeuth's Mother: "If they send my son back to Cambodia I lost my American dream."
Chhan says her son has no connection to Cambodia since he grew up in the U.S. A spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement says U-S immigration law is clear: if you're a lawful permanent resident and you commit an aggravated felony, you lose your right to live in this country. I'm Austin Jenkins in Olympia.
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