A refugee in exile

Kosal Khiev

May 03, 2012
By Amber Stephens
The Daily Titan (Cal. State Fullerton)

While in state prison, Kosal Khiev jumped out of bed from a terrible nightmare. The 31-year-old former Santa Ana resident woke up in the middle of the night, washed his face and looked at himself in the mirror. He saw his younger, more jubilant self, masked by the hardened reality of his adulthood, reflected in the image before him. Khiev asked himself, “Is this it, man? Is this all you’re going to become? Am I going to die with you, here?”

Although Khiev was ready to turn his life around after his 14-year prison sentence, little did the Cambodian-born refugee know, he would be transported and dropped off permanently in a country he had never known.

Khiev was born in a refugee camp on border of Cambodia and Thailand. His family was escaping the brutal genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, which led to the deaths of more than 2 million Cambodians in the late 1970s. When he was a year old, his family was brought over to the United States by a church sponsor in North Carolina. After spending a few years isolated from the mostly white community in the area, his family settled into the Cambodian neighborhood on Minnie Street in Santa Ana. The area had been known to be inundated with crime and gang violence, but it was one of the very few neighborhoods in the United States with a close-knit Cambodian community.

Asian American Video About Deported Cambodians Rejected by Obama's White House

Anida Yoeu Ali (Photo: studiorevolt)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQxtfCz4B1o

Mon., Apr. 23 2012
By Dennis Romero
LA Weekly (California, USA)

It's sad. And it doesn't make the Obama administration's deportations look good, especially when the president is desperately seeking an immigration-sensitive Latino vote.

A White House contest asking people to create the best video about the Asian American experience might have been rigged.

An entry about Cambodian deportees appeared to have received the most views, now more than 18,000, but a half-dozen other video makers were invited to the White House. Though "My Asian Americana" made a list of 11 finalists, it didn't make that final cut.

Here's probably why:

The deportees were sent to Cambodia, a country they barely knew, because they had criminal records, even though many had already completed sentences, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The deportations were part of an aggressive campaign to rid the United States of bad actors from abroad, particularly at a time when there have been repeated calls for secure borders.

But in the case of these Cambodians, they were children when they came to the United States, and they were essentially raised as Americans.

Filmmakers 'appalled' by process in White House video contest

Anida Yoeu Ali and Masahiro Sugano's video, "My Asian Americana," splices together interviews with Americans who have been deported to Cambodia. Many of them had never been to Cambodia, but were sent there because they had criminal records. (unknown / April 20, 2012)

Filmmakers whose work was among 11 finalists are upset that the White House has not explained how winners were chosen. They think their controversial topic may explain why they were left out.

April 23, 2012

By Paloma Esquivel, Los Angeles Times

"It's the White House, and we find it very dishonorable for them to discount and just throw away the votes"

Anida Yoeu Ali and Masahiro Sugano were excited when they heard about the White House video contest on issues affecting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. They spent two weeks putting together a three-minute film on the plight of Cambodian deportees, then watched as online views outpaced the competition.

But they found out last month that they didn't win, and since then have been unable to find out how the contest was decided. They, and one contest winner, think the film's topic cut too close to a controversy over the record number of immigrants deported by the Obama administration.

"We've shown there's a huge interest in this issue," said Ali, a performance artist and 2010-11 U.S. Fulbright Fellow. "We're just appalled that we've been completely dismissed in the process."

White House staffers emphasized that the contest would be judged in part by viewers, but the vote count was never made public, and repeated requests by the filmmakers to learn more about what happened with the votes have not been answered.

Royal lends voice to returnees

Princess Soma Norodom hosted the ‘Champtions of Change, too’ gala, sharing her own experience as a refugee in the US. (Photo by Chhim Sreyneang)

Wednesday, 04 April 2012
Diana Montaño
The Phnom Penh Post

An eclectic mix of artists, NGO workers, former gang members and Cambodian royalty filled Java Café to capacity on Monday night for a dinner and awards ceremony aimed at raising awareness about the US government’s ongoing deportation of Cambodian refugees.

Princess Soma Norodom, the niece of King Norodom Sihoni, was the night’s host.

Norodom, who grew up in Long Beach, California, after her family fled to the US following the Khmer Rouge takeover, expressed her solidarity with those deported from the US.

“I’m here because I am Cambodian-American. I know what it was like to be a refugee in the US,” said the Princess when asked why she felt compelled to speak on the issue.

The majority of deportees arriving in Cambodia committed crimes in the past, often in their teens, which deemed them deportable, according to the local non-profit Returnee Integration Support Center.

Cambodian deportees advocate for policy changes through video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQxtfCz4B1o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt_W2S6tlQo

Tue, 04/03/2012
Free Speech Radio News

Cambodians are just one group of many that are affected by stepped up immigration raids. Many Cambodians targeted for removal are from families who originally came to the US in the late 1970s and early 1980s as refugees fleeing war and conflict in Southeast Asia. On FSRN, we’ve been covering the issue of deportees who lived most of their lives in the US but were forced out of the country. Many of them now reside in Cambodia and have been advocating for changes to the immigration policy. That advocacy has taken the form of a video, called My Asian Americana. That video was submitted to the White House as part of a contest called What’s Your Story run by the Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, which President Barack Obama created in 2009 by an executive order. Anida Yoeu Ali is one of the producers of the video. She told FSRN today that the video aimed to capture the situation in Cambodia. FSRN’s requests for clarification from the White House were not responded to by airtime, however Eddie Lee, associate director with the Office of Public Engagement commended the “inspirational” stories of the top 11 videos but said they could only invite a select number to the White House.

Cambodian-American Woman Wants to Highlight Deportation Issue

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67xY2dj6d5k

US deportations of Cambodian Americans challenged by exile community

Wed, 02/29/2012
Free Speech Radio News (USA)

During the violence of the Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s tens of thousands of Cambodians fled to nearby Thailand. Some went on to the Philippines and then to the US, where families resettled and tried to start over.

But about a decade ago, the US stepped up its deportation of Cambodians who had been convicted of “aggravated felonies” forcing many to leave the US, the only home they’ve known. Many of these exiled Americans now reside inside Cambodia. A group of them have made a short film called My Asian Americana that they’re using to advocate for changes in the US policy.

One of those involved is Kosal Khiev.

“If the world is black and white, then let me bring the color...”

That’s a clip from one of his poems, “Why I Write.” Khiev was born in a refugee camp in Thailand before moving to the US with his family. At the age of 17 he was charged with attempted murder in connection with a gang fight. He served 14 years of a 16-year sentence before being released in 2011, when he was deported to Cambodia. He joins us now from Phnom Penh.

To see a video of Khiev’s "Why I Write":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCKvWSHl_hw

To see Studio Revolt’s "My Asian Americana," which features Khiev and other American exiles in Cambodia:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/aapi/whats-your-story

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQxtfCz4B1o

My Asian Americana [-BRING 'EM BACK HOME!]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQxtfCz4B1o

AFTER WATCHING THIS VIDEO,

PLEASE VOTE FOR

MY ASIAN AMERICANA

BY CLICKING HERE

Deportee video wins accolades

A still shot taken from My Asian Americana shows the expats and deportees who are featured in the film. (Studio Revolt)

Studio Revolt films My Asian Americana on location in Phnom Penh. (Studio Revolt)

In a frame grab from a scene in My Asian Americana, director Anida Yeou Ali is draped in a US flag. (Studio Revolt)

Wednesday, 22 February 2012
Diana Montano
The Phnom Penh Post

PLEASE VOTE FOR

MY ASIAN AMERICANA

BY CLICKING HERE

LET'S BRING 'EM HOME!

Local artists critical of the US government’s deportation of Cambodian refugees have received accolades for their work from an unlikely source – the White House.

Next My Asian Americana, a short video produced by Phnom Penh-based media lab Studio Revolt, was announced on Friday as one of 11 finalists in the “What’s Your Story?” Video Challenge launched by the White House Initiative on Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, a working group formed by the Obama administration to address issues affecting the AAPI community.

“We made the video to challenge the Challenge itself,” says Studio Revolt co-founder and My Asian Americana director Anida Yeou Ali, adding that she never expected the video to make it this far because of its thorny political subject.

Radio Current Affairs Documentary: Kosal Khiev

Tens of thousands of Cambodians fled the Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s and ended up in refugee camps on the Thai border. Some of those families were resettled in the United States and their children were raised as Americans, often with little connection to their homeland.

January 17, 2012

Liam Cochrane

PM - ABC News (Australia)

ELIZABETH JACKSON: Tens of thousands of Cambodians fled the Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s and ended up in refugee camps on the Thai border. Some of those families were resettled in the United States and their children were raised as Americans, often with little connection to their homeland.

A small number of young Cambodian-Americans find themselves in trouble with the law - drugs and gang violence mostly - and their convictions earn them a one-way ticket to a country many have never known. For many, it's the first time they realise they're not full citizens of America, despite their parents being granted asylum and permanent residency.

More than 200 people have been deported to Cambodia under this scheme since it began in 2003 and an estimated 2,000 more await a similar fate.

The story of Kosal Khiev: From California to Cambodia

December 29, 2011
ABC Radio Australia

Tens of thousands of Cambodians fled the Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s and ended up in refugee camps on the Thai border.

Some of those families were resettled in the United States and their children were raised as Americans, often with little connection to their homeland.

A small number of young Cambodian-Americans find themselves in trouble with the law... drugs and gang violence mostly... and their convictions earn them a one-way ticket to a country many have never known.

For many, it's the first time they realise they're not full citizens of America, despite their parents being granted asylum and permanent residency.

More than 200 people have been deported to Cambodia under this scheme since it began in 2003... and an estimated 2,000 more await a similar fate.

In Phnom Penh, Radio Australia's Liam Cochrane met up with one of these deportees, Kosal Khiev... and spoke to him about his childhood alienation and his long stretch in tough U.S prisons, where he discovered the spoken word poetry that's helped him turn his life around.

Click here to listen to the audio program (Windows Media)

New Play Highlights Struggles of Deportees

Photo: Courtesy of “Red Earth, Gold Gate, Shadow Sky” production

Friday, 02 December 2011
Borei Sylyvann, VOA Khmer | Washington, DC

“They do not understand how hard our lives are, what we have been through just to come to America.”

“Red Earth, Gold Gate, Shadow Sky” depicts the lives of a younger generation of Cambodian youth struggling to find their way in American society, where gangs, crime and the prospect of prison are parts of everyday life.

The play, which ran in November in Seattle tells the story of a single family that survived the Khmer Rouge and refugee camps and found its way to the US.

Mark Jenkins, a drama professor at the University of Washington, wrote the play after spending several years researching and interviewing Cambodian-American returnees.

“Red Earth” follows the journey of one young man, Cam, through life in America, where he joins a gang and goes to prison, only to be deported on his release.

Federal deportation review comes too late for some [... for Cambodians]

Ana Marie Cruz's fiance, a legal resident and father of her children, was deported for a crime he committed 14 years ago.

September 1, 2011
By Sarah Hoye, CNN
CNN

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Ana Maria Cruz is a single mother of four after her fiance was deported
• Chally Dang was a legal permanent U.S. resident, who emigrated from Southeast Asia
• He was deported this year for a crime he committed and served time for 14 years ago
• Cruz says he turned his life around and hasn't committed a crime since

Philadelphia (CNN) -- Last September, Ana Maria Cruz waited in her minivan outside an immigration office, clutching her fiance's keys, wallet and cell phone.

Cruz, then eight months pregnant and with two of the couple's other children in tow, began to worry when Chally Dang took longer than usual to emerge from what should have been a routine check-in with immigration officials.

"I sat there for about an hour because I didn't know what to do," Cruz said. "Then he collect-called me to say they weren't letting him go."

For the next nine months, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials held Dang and three other Cambodian-Americans -- all legal permanent residents who had come to the United States as child refugees.

Misperceptions of America!

Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Op-Ed by MP

"Society, even at its worst, is still a blessing. The state, however, is at its best repressive, and is frequently, intolerant".

This brief comment is made in response to an article that appears here under the headline: “Perceptions of America” by David P. McGinley.

If Native Americans could speak and act for themselves, they would have deported all non-native Americans back to where they or their ancestors came, including this so-called "American Thinker", instead of enduring the indignity of living on the Reservations and being labelled “primitive” in the process!

Now, he will do well to ponder the remark by Karl Marx about the American justice system that knew only how to send people to the gallows, but never considered the root causes that brought them before those gallows in the first place.

We don't know why someone who has been living in a country for twenty five years 'never bothered to become a citizen' of that country, nor the social circumstances that led him to breach the law of that country.

To become a naturalised citizen of most western countries, naturalisation procedures presumably insist on the applicant being able to demonstrate 'good or sound character' as one of the essential prerequisites.

Perceptions of America

April 04, 2011
By David P. McGinley
American Thinker

Since 9/11, one of the big concerns of America's ruling class is what the rest of the world thinks of the United States -- hence the lamentation of "why do they hate us?" In fact, one of President Obama's goals when taking office was to change the world's perception of America. Of course, the ruling class is worried about only what its elitist counterparts think, not your typical citizen of another country.

So what does that typical citizen think?

Since moving abroad last year, I have gained some insight into answering this question. One recent discussion with one of my law students was quite illuminating. The student, who is from Cambodia, complained to me that the U.S. government was going to deport a Cambodian national who had been permanently living in the U.S. for over twenty-five years. The prospective deportee had moved to the U.S. in the 1980s to escape the communist killing fields of the Khmer Rouge. In those twenty-five years, he never bothered to become a citizen.

Recently, the man in question was convicted of committing a felony. Suddenly, the place to which he had fled that saved him from being massacred, the place that has provided him with a level of personal liberty nonexistent in his place of birth -- even before the Khmer Rouge -- is supposedly treating him unfairly.

Inability to deport 'undesirable' illegals frustrates U.S.

Unwanted
Annual number of illegal immigrants who could not be deported because home countries refused:

• 2008: 702
• 2009: 621
• 2010: 377
• 2011: 41

Source: U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement

Sunday, March 27, 2011
By Rich Cholodofsky
Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Convicted killer Loeun Heng walked out of a Massachusetts detention center a free man last fall.

The illegal alien from Cambodia was supposed to be deported after serving almost a decade in prison for killing a 16-year-old boy in a Boston suburb.

But Cambodia is among several countries that won't take their citizens back when the United States wants to jettison them.

Officials from Immigration and Custom Enforcement, or ICE, detained Heng for six months as they tried to ship him out.

They failed.

Special Documentary Screening "Sentenced Home" in Philadelphia, PA

Time:

Sunday, March 20 · 2:00pm - 5:00pm

Location:

Asian Arts Initiative

1219 Vine Street

Philadelphia, PA

Created By:

Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia (CAGP)

More Info:

FREE FILM SCREENING! FREE EVENT!

Special Documentary Screening

"SENTENCED HOME"

This film is a gripping documentary exploration that humanizes the United States' tragically flawed immigration policy. The film follows the story of 3 Cambodian-American immigrants living in Seattle (who came as children in the early 80s, when a multitude of Cambodian refugees were given housing in the city's projects) whose teenage rebellions catch up with them in a horrific way. ~ IMDb

Special Guest Host

PraCh Ly www.Mujestic.com

AZI Fellas www.TheAZI.com

Carla Pendino

Immigrant-rights advocates protest 'unjust' deportation on MLK Day

Tue, Jan. 18, 2011
By JULIE SHAW
Philadelphia Daily News

CARRYING signs that blared "Stop Unjust Deportation," more than 200 immigrant-rights advocates took to the streets yesterday to rally against what they see as civil-rights injustices.

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, they marched to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, at 16th and Callowhill streets, raising their voices for Chally Dang, for Mout Iv, for Davy Phean, for Vanney Van.

The four Cambodian immigrants sit in York County Prison, detained by ICE. They had been welcomed into this country as refugees and became legal permanent residents.

But each had committed a crime, and although they served their prison times, under 1996 immigration laws they are deportable back to Cambodia without a hearing before an immigration judge on the merits of their cases.

200 march in Philly to protest deportation of four Cambodians

Tue, Jan. 18, 2011
By Michael Matza
Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

Linking their demonstration to the human-rights theme of Martin Luther King's Birthday, about 200 members of pro-immigrant groups marched Monday from Center City to the regional offices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to protest the pending deportation of four Cambodian men.

Outside the office at 1600 Callowhill St., they festooned a fence with placards - "Stop Tearing Families Apart" - and hundreds of yellow ribbons.

"Education, not deportation," they chanted.

Rallying the crowd through a bullhorn, Desi Burnette of Media Mobilizing Project, a co-organizer of the march, said the men facing deportation were "heroes" to her because they made serious mistakes and learned from them.

The four were born in Cambodia or Southeast Asian refugee camps after their families fled the Khmer Rouge and the Pol Pot regime. They and their parents were admitted legally to the United States as refugees about 25 years ago.

Immigration Reform Bill Could Lessen Deportations: Group

The US has expelled more than 200 Cambodians under the law since 2001, when Cambodia signed an agreement to take back deportees. Charlie (above) is one of them (Photo: Long Beach Press Telegram)

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC Thursday, 14 October 2010

“We should push congressmen from the Republicans to help sponsor it.”

A new immigration bill already drafted in Congress could reduce the number of Cambodians deported from the US, supporters say.

The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill, which has the backing of a number of groups, including Cambodian, still needs more support, Sinuon Hem, director of the Asian Pacific Islanders Youth Program, told VOA Khmer.

“We should push congressmen from the Republicans to help sponsor it,” she said from Seattle, Wash.

Passage of the bill would reduce Cambodians on a deportation list under immigration laws, she said. Currently, the list is 1,400 Cambodians long, many of whom have already served jail time and have the potential of becoming good US citizens, she said.

Deportation of some US-Cambodians under the law have met with opposition from the Cambodian-American communities. So far 230 people have been deported. Five of them were sent in September.

Daravuth Huot, the Cambodian consular in Seattle, said he has received requests for more information about deportation procedures, but he encouraged people who are concerned to seek legal counsel.