Lowell Sun

RELEASED U.S. ALIEN INMATES TO BE JAILED HERE 
By Matt McKinney 

The Cambodia Daily, P. 12 
Tuesday, May 7, 2002  
 A group of Cambodians who have finished prison sentences in the U.S. for crimes committed there will be jailed when they return to Cambodia, said Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday, in a ground-breaking ceremony in Kampot province.  
"America has asked the Cambodian government to accept Khmers that went to America illegally or were convicted in America," said Hun Sen.  "Persons who were put in prisons in America, when they return they have to stay in Prey Sar."

The Cambodians were living in the U.S., some for most of their lives, as resident or illegal aliens when they committed their crimes and were automatically slated for deportation to their native country when they were
convicted. Their return was secured by an agreement signed in March between the government and U.S. ambassador Kent Wiedermann.

"The agreement that I signed with the Cambodian Ministry of Interior provides that Cambodia will accept these deported aliens back, and provide for ways in which they will be reintegrated," Wiedermann said.

The agreement does not spell out how the Cambodians will be reintegrated into local society, though Wiedermann said it would take time for the Cambodian government to track down families and find an appropriate home for each of the returnees.

He said he did not know how many Cambodians will be deported from the U.S., but an initial group of 28 has been identified for deportation.  All have completed a prison sentence in the U.S. for their crimes, and if they were naturalized U.S. citizens would have been released in the U.S.

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* NOTE FROM SEARAC:

Prey Sar is a detention center (prison) just outside of Phnom Penh holding political prisoners where torture is likely to occur, according to the Human Rights Watch World Report on Cambodia (2002)(http://www.hrw.org/wr2k2/asia3.html):

"Prison conditions continued to be poor, with many facilities seriously overcrowded and lacking adequate medical care, food, and water. At least six prisoners died within a two-month period in Prey Sar prison in Phnom Penh because of insufficient food and medication, according to a report by a Cambodian human rights organization. The use of shackles was reported in prisons in Kompong Som and Kompong Cham. Pre-trial detention beyond the legal limit of six months was common.

"Torture continued to be used with impunity, particularly by police officers attempting to extract confessions from suspects in custody. Police also failed to intervene to stop violence against women either in the home, where domestic abuse was considered a family matter, or in the sex industry, which is often supported and protected by members of the military, police or other government officials."

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Max Niedzwiecki
Director of Programs and Resource Development
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
1628 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009-3099
Tel: 202/667-4690
Fax: 202/667-6449
max@searac.org
www.searac.org

DEPORTATION OF CAMBODIANS FROM THE UNITED STATES
ACTION ALERT - CONTACT YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS NOW
BACKGROUND INFORMATION, TALKING POINTS, ETC.
MAY 8, 2002

Background:
Recently, the U.S. Department of State announced that Cambodia will accept Cambodians who have been convicted of crimes in the United States. SEARAC calls for a hold on deportation until cases can be reviewed by the INS to ensure fairness in the deportation process.  Many Southeast Asians that SEARAC has been in contact with accepted orders of removal in exchange for supervised release.  Unaware that this repatriation agreement would be signed in the immediate future, many Cambodian detainees did not pursue appeals on
their deportation orders.  In these cases many Cambodians did not have their cases heard by a judge and thoroughly reviewed.

This international agreement has the potential to harm large numbers of Cambodians in the United States - citizens as well as people who have not become citizens yet:
· According to Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) statistics, nearly 1,400 Cambodians have been issued "final orders of removal" and could be deported quickly.
· A SEARAC survey recently discovered that over half of those potential deportees are the main income-earners for their families, which typically include members who are American citizens and children.
· According to statistics from the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), 145,149 refugees entered the U.S. from Cambodia between 1975 and 1999. According to INS statistics, 46,455 people from Cambodia had naturalized to become U.S. citizens.  These statistics lead us to believe that nearly 100,000 Cambodians in the U.S. arrived as refugees and are not now citizens.

All of them are at danger of deportation if they are found guilty of an "aggravated felony" crime - whether they actually commit the crime or not. These crimes can include shoplifting, marijuana possession, and driving while intoxicated.

Question and Answer:
Q:  Haven't the majority of Cambodians facing repatriation already had fair evaluations of the cases?
A:  No.  In most cases, Cambodians were ordered deported under the 1996 immigration reform laws before the courts had ruled on the meaning of those laws.  For example, in most cases, Cambodians facing deportation were denied a chance for a hearing before an immigration judge in which they could present the equities of their cases - including such factors as the age they came to the United States, their rehabilitation, and their lack of ties to Cambodia.  The Supreme Court ruled last June that this was illegal in cases
of people convicted before 1996 who served less than five years in prison.

No Cambodian should be repatriated until they have had the hearings required by the Supreme Court's decision.  In addition, Congress is seeking to restore hearings to other immigrants convicted after 1996.  No Cambodian should be repatriated while Congress is considering this legislation.

Q:  Isn't it too late to review these cases?
A:  No.  Many Cambodians were told by INS officers, lawyers or others that they would not be deported if they accepted a deportation order.  As a result, the legality of their deportation orders was never tested.  No one should be deported under an unlawful order.

Q:  What are examples of orders that are unlawful?
A:  In some cases, the order is unlawful because the person was denied the right to a hearing.  In other cases, the order is unlawful because the INS used too harsh a rule for determining what qualifies as an "aggravated felony." For example, some courts have said that the INS was wrong to call driving under the influence an aggravated felony.

Legislation/Action Alert:

The Family Reunification Act of 2002 (H.R. 1452) would allow the Attorney General to cancel an order of removal for a legal permanent resident who poses no danger to persons or property and is not a threat to the community. The Act also allows a cancellation of removal for family unity or humanitarian reasons.  Currently the bill is being reviewed by the full Judiciary committee.

Take Action:

Please call your member of Congress and urge them to:
1. Urge INS Commissioner James Ziglar to delay deportation of Cambodians until a thorough review process is in place.
2. Help pass The Family Reunification Act of 2002 (H.R. 1452) which gives the Attorney General discretion to cancel an order of removal for humanitarian and family reunification reasons.

You can find your member of Congress by going to
http://clerkweb.house.gov/mbrcmtee/members/housemem.htm for members of the House of Representatives and
http://www.senate.gov/senators/senator_by_state.cfm for members of the Senate.  Please let TC Duong at SEARAC know if you have called or are planning on calling your member of Congress or any other advocacy on this issue.  If you have further thoughts or know of anyone with an order of removal who is willing to speak out, please contact TC at 202-667-4690 or e-mail at tcduong@searac.org.

Talking Points:
§ Restore fairness in the detention and deportation process.  Many Southeast Asians accepted orders of removal in exchange for supervised release. Unaware that this repatriation agreement would be signed in the immediate future, several Cambodian detainees did not pursue appeals on their deportation orders.  In these cases many Cambodians did not appeal their orders of removal and have their cases heard by a judge. Furthermore, Southeast Asians must be informed about the consequences of pleading guilty and being convicted of offenses when the plea is made for the purposes of expediting their release and gaining suspended sentences.

§ Deportees have strong ties to the United States. Many deportees have family who fought alongside U.S troops during the Vietnam War.  Also, in survey of Southeast Asians in detention showed that the average age of arrival to the United States was nine years old and the average length of time that detainees have lived in this country is 20 years.  One-third of the detainees SEARAC spoke with said that they had American-born children and over half said they were their families' primary source of income.

§ Deportees may suffer persecution if sent back.  Many detainees are victims or torture themselves or from families who suffered human rights abuses in Cambodia.  Before Cambodian Americans can be deported we ask for assurances that they will be treated fairly and not be targeted by the Cambodian government.

§ Southeast Asians who live in the United States are often ill-equipped to understand the American legal system because of the language difficulties and because the legal systems of their homelands are so different.  These facts mitigate against the abilities of many Southeast Asians to protect their own interests in courts of law.