San Franciscan Cambodians Face ICE Deportation
A group of Cambodian refugees in the Bay Area received summonses to show up to ICE in San Francisco this week, where they’ll be detained and likely deported as part of a push by the Trump administration targeting immigrants with criminal records.
At least eight local Cambodians were asked to report to deportation officers at ICE headquarters on Sansome Street on Wednesday, and dozens more are expected to be detained across the United States this month, according to local advocates.
It’s the latest round of these deportations, as ICE cracks down on Cambodian refugees who committed crimes years or even decades ago, often as teenagers, that cost them their green cards and put them on a track to deportation.
Many of these immigrants tell similar stories: haunted by the trauma of war and genocide, they landed in impoverished neighborhoods in America where opportunities were limited and where they were bullied for being immigrants. They turned to drugs, gangs and crime to fit in, decisions that got them locked up for years and cost them their visas.
