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A survivor of the Cambodian genocide who fled to the United States more than four decades ago has been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), despite having a pending visa application, US media reported.
LAist News identified the woman as Sithy Yi, who arrived in the United States as a refugee in 1981 after escaping the Khmer Rouge genocide. She was detained earlier this month during a routine immigration check-in at an ICE office in Santa Ana, California.
Yi’s lawyer, Kim Luu-Ng, said she is being held unlawfully at the Adelanto detention centre. Although an immigration court ordered her removal in 2016, the order was later withheld due to concerns that she could face harm if returned to Cambodia.
Yi’s sister, Sithea San, told LAist that the family arrived in California in 1981, sponsored by their uncle, with just US$10. While Yi’s mother and sisters became US citizens by 1990, Yi’s path to legal residency was complicated by a medical condition that prevented her from attending school.
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San said Yi’s detention on 8 January came as a shock, noting that her sister had consistently complied with immigration requirements and attended monthly ICE check-ins.
“She complied with every single thing that the government asked her to do,” San said.
According to Luu-Ng, Yi was fitted with an ankle monitor during a check-in in November after concerns that ICE might detain her, but officials at the time told her she would not be taken into custody as long as she complied with monitoring conditions.
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The American Community Media website reported that Yi held a green card until 2011, when she was arrested on a drug conviction for possession with intent to sell. After completing her sentence and serving additional time for a parole violation, her permanent residency was revoked, leaving her without legal status.
Luu-Ng said Yi has since lived peacefully in her community and has never been considered a threat. She added that Yi did not have a Khmer interpreter during her drug trial, which she said amounted to a denial of due process.
“ICE has had numerous opportunities over the past 20 years to detain or deport my client but chose not to,” Luu-Ng said. “They repeatedly determined that she was not a danger to the community.”
A survivor of the Cambodian genocide who fled to the United States more than four decades ago has been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), despite having a pending visa application, US media reported.
LAist News identified the woman as Sithy Yi, who arrived in the United States as a refugee in 1981 after escaping the Khmer Rouge genocide. She was detained earlier this month during a routine immigration check-in at an ICE office in Santa Ana, California.
Yi’s lawyer, Kim Luu-Ng, said she is being held unlawfully at the Adelanto detention centre. Although an immigration court ordered her removal in 2016, the order was later withheld due to concerns that she could face harm if returned to Cambodia.
Yi’s sister, Sithea San, told LAist that the family arrived in California in 1981, sponsored by their uncle, with just US$10. While Yi’s mother and sisters became US citizens by 1990, Yi’s path to legal residency was complicated by a medical condition that prevented her from attending school.
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San said Yi’s detention on 8 January came as a shock, noting that her sister had consistently complied with immigration requirements and attended monthly ICE check-ins.
“She complied with every single thing that the government asked her to do,” San said.
According to Luu-Ng, Yi was fitted with an ankle monitor during a check-in in November after concerns that ICE might detain her, but officials at the time told her she would not be taken into custody as long as she complied with monitoring conditions.
Powered by
GliaStudios
The American Community Media website reported that Yi held a green card until 2011, when she was arrested on a drug conviction for possession with intent to sell. After completing her sentence and serving additional time for a parole violation, her permanent residency was revoked, leaving her without legal status.
Luu-Ng said Yi has since lived peacefully in her community and has never been considered a threat. She added that Yi did not have a Khmer interpreter during her drug trial, which she said amounted to a denial of due process.
“ICE has had numerous opportunities over the past 20 years to detain or deport my client but chose not to,” Luu-Ng said. “They repeatedly determined that she was not a danger to the community.”
