As a result of stricter post-Sept. 11 antiterrorism laws, three Cambodian-American immigrants living in Seattle face deportation for felony crimes they committed -- and served time for -- as teens, many years earlier. Following their subjects over the course of three years, filmmakers David Grabias and Nicole Newnham put a human face on troubling aspects of immigration in America in this documentary, which screened on PBS's "Independent Lens" series.
The film chronicles the lives of three Cambodian-Americans, who, as children, fled the Killing Fields of the Khymer Rouge. They came to the U.S. to begin new lives, but found themselves living in the projects in a tough neighborhood in Seattle. Some of these young people joined street gangs and committed crimes. “Sentenced Home” tells the story of three of them: Kim Ho Ma, Loeun Lun, and Many Uch.
All three were jailed for their crimes. Though Kim Ho Ma continued his life of petty crime, Loeun Lun and Many Uch rehabilitated themselves, got steady jobs, married and had families. Uch worked with minority youth to help provide alternatives to gang life.
A new agreement between the Cambodian and U.S. governments, however, meant that all three faced deportation to Cambodia, a country with which they were unfamiliar.
The father of two young daughters, Loeun Lun, was deported in 2007 and separated from his wife and children and his entire extended family. Loeun and his wife are only able to see one another once a year, when she visits him in Cambodia.
Many Uch, despite turning his life around, buying a business, marrying, having a daughter, and working in anti-gang and anti-violence programs, is still in danger of being deported for a crime he was incarcerated for in 1994.
“These are not Cambodians. These are Americans. They are Americans by experience, education, language. They think in English; they speak to each other in English. They arrive essentially alone here with nothing.”
- Bill Herod, Returnee Assistance Project Director
Any noncitizen of the United States can be expelled from the country for any reason that is specified in the Immigration and Nationality Act.
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Article 230 of the “Immigration and Nationality Act” reads:
(d) PROMPT INITIATION OF REMOVAL.-(1) In the case of an alien who is convicted of an offense which makes the alien deportable, the Attorney General shall begin any removal proceeding as expeditiously as possible after the date of the conviction.
Most Americans are unaware of this law and may not be sympathetic to people who had, after all, committed crimes. Everyone makes mistakes, though. Is the fact that someone went to jail when young enough reason to deport him, years later, after he has already served a prison term? Can a person atone for his crimes, rehabilate himself, and help others? What happens to the family of an ex-con that he leaves behind in the U.S.?
Find out more and watch clips of the film at:
2006 NR 53 minutes
Directors: David Grabias, Nicole Newnham ;
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