What is wrong with this picture?

May 24, 2011
Guy Brown, Marshalltown
Times-Republican (Central Iowa's Daily Newspaper)

I am currently in the Marshall County Jail. As I sit here thinking I have all these problems I realize I can resolve my own problems. The reason I'm writing is the illegal immigrants. Most of these guys in Marshall County are young. Most of them have started a family and have been working to support them. Now our country is in economic debt - why is our government paying to house all these inmates that could be out working and helping America?

I have gotten close to a couple of these inmates. One was born in Cambodia. He came to the United States at the age of 7. His whole family is in Des Moines. He graduated from high school and started a family. He has a girlfriend and an 8-year-old daughter and was working in Des Moines.

Our government is going to send him back to Cambodia without his family. He doesn't know anybody over there. I thought my problems were bad.

Another inmate is from Vietnam, a country that won't take people back. Why is our government holding him and paying for his expenses? His country won't take him - what does our government plan on doing with him? What is wrong with this picture?

The Effects of Deportation on Families

May 14, 2010
Letter to The New York Times

Re “Deportation’s Brief Adios and Prolonged Anguish” (news article, May 9):

Deportation affects all American families — those without documentation as much as those who are legal permanent residents. We’ve witnessed its effect on Southeast Asian Americans who came as refugees decades ago, and are deported back to the countries they once fled in fear of persecution.

Though one community member fled Cambodia as an infant and barely speaks the language, he was deported, because of a minor conviction from his youth, back to a country he didn’t even remember. After serving time, leading an upstanding life for eight years and starting a family, he was detained and deported while applying for citizenship.

He leaves behind a wife, two daughters and his aging mother. His daughters will grow up without their father.

Current laws are unjust, and tear families apart. We ask that judges be given the power to consider case-by-case circumstances before deciding on deportation or a second chance, an authority that was stripped under the 1996 immigration laws.

Doua Thor
Executive Director
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center
Washington, May 11, 2010

Former [Cambodian-American] gang member seeks pardon from [Washington state] governor

Jun 11, 2009
By Keith Eldridge
Komo 4 News (Washington, USA)

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Let's let bygones be bygones.

That's the proposal of a Cambodian refugee looking for a pardon from the governor. And the state Clemency and Pardons Board agrees.

Former gang member-turned-civic leader Manny Uch needs the pardon for a past crime to avoid being deported.

On Thursday Uch appealed to the state Clemency and Pardons Board, hoping Gov. Chris Gregoire will step in on his behalf and stop the federal government from sending him back to Cambodia.

"I'm confident going into this that I've done my best for the past 10 years. So give me a chance," he said.

As a child in the early 1980s, Uch fled the killing fields of Cambodia with his family. During his years in the U.S., he drove a getaway car during a robbery and served time.

Since then, he's turned his life around. He is now a city community leader who counsels young people to stay out of trouble.

Uch's story has even been profiled in an Emmy-nominated documentary titled "Sentenced Home." He has helped write success stories like that of Johnny Cheng, whom he counseled.

"It wasn't anything in particular that he really said to me. It's more of what I saw him doing," Cheng said.

But because of his earlier crime he could be deported under the federal immigration laws. That threat has been hanging over Uch's head for years.

On Thursday, Uch's supporters gathered on the steps of the state Capitol as he appealed to the board. Among the crowd was University of Washington Drama Professor Mark Jenkins, who wants to turn Uch's story into a stage production.

"This whole immigration law seems to be an awfully heavy sledgehammer that's causing personal tragedy more than it's protecting America," Jenkins said.

The Clemency and Pardons Board voted unanimously to recommend a pardon for Uch. But their vote is simply a recommendation to the governor.

The Governor's Office said Gregoire will consider the recommendation and make a final decision.

It's not known when the governor's decision will come. And while Uch waits, immigration could send him back to Cambodia at any moment. And he is not alone. Some 1,500 Cambodians are facing the threat of deportation nationwide.