A Cambodian boy grows up as a legal resident in the central valley. Now, working and married, immigration officials are deporting him. Why? Norma Yuriar reports on his immigration debate.
By Norma Yuriar
Fresno, Calif. (KMPH News) — Up until last week Chantha Kong, seen here with his American wife Sharon, was on a path to becoming a U.S. Citizen. He now sits in an immigration detention center in Bakersfield waiting to be deported.
"He's crying, scared, he's never even been to Cambodia," wife Sharon Kong said. "His family was there but he was born in Thailand in a refugee camp."
Sharon says her husband and his family fled Cambodia to escape death by General Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge communists.
"Here's the deal. He's a legal immigrant," Kong's Pastor Roger Feenstra said. "He's not here illegally. The United States brought him here with his family when he was two years old."
Now, 25 years later, Kong is being deported from Fresno to his home country. Why? His wife Sharon says her husband used poor judgement one night several years ago at a party, he held a gun in his pocket for a so–called friend. Kong was convicted on a felony weapons charge, and sentenced to one year at the Fresno County Jail.
"Once you are sentenced to 365 days you are automatically in the INS system," Sharon said. "If he had been sentenced 364 days, just one day less. He could have fought it."
"The bottom line is there are illegal immigrants living here that they should be working on sending back," Feenstra said. "This young man has turned his life around."
He says Kong has become a leader in the church's ‘Hope Now for Youth' program.
"The reason that he should stay here is because he's here legally," Pastor Feenstra said. "He's made some mistakes, he's corrected those mistakes and they are sending back to a country he has no knowledge of, he's never been there, he knows no one, he barely knows the language."
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will not comment on Kong's case because of confidentiality requirements. But, a spokeswoman for ICE tells KMPH News that anyone in this country who is not a U.S. Citizen can be deported at any time, if they break the law.
Kong's wife says she will leave Fresno and move to Cambodia with her husband, if he's deported by the end of the month.
By Norma Yuriar
Fresno, Calif. (KMPH News) — Up until last week Chantha Kong, seen here with his American wife Sharon, was on a path to becoming a U.S. Citizen. He now sits in an immigration detention center in Bakersfield waiting to be deported.
"He's crying, scared, he's never even been to Cambodia," wife Sharon Kong said. "His family was there but he was born in Thailand in a refugee camp."
Sharon says her husband and his family fled Cambodia to escape death by General Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge communists.
"Here's the deal. He's a legal immigrant," Kong's Pastor Roger Feenstra said. "He's not here illegally. The United States brought him here with his family when he was two years old."
Now, 25 years later, Kong is being deported from Fresno to his home country. Why? His wife Sharon says her husband used poor judgement one night several years ago at a party, he held a gun in his pocket for a so–called friend. Kong was convicted on a felony weapons charge, and sentenced to one year at the Fresno County Jail.
"Once you are sentenced to 365 days you are automatically in the INS system," Sharon said. "If he had been sentenced 364 days, just one day less. He could have fought it."
"The bottom line is there are illegal immigrants living here that they should be working on sending back," Feenstra said. "This young man has turned his life around."
He says Kong has become a leader in the church's ‘Hope Now for Youth' program.
"The reason that he should stay here is because he's here legally," Pastor Feenstra said. "He's made some mistakes, he's corrected those mistakes and they are sending back to a country he has no knowledge of, he's never been there, he knows no one, he barely knows the language."
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will not comment on Kong's case because of confidentiality requirements. But, a spokeswoman for ICE tells KMPH News that anyone in this country who is not a U.S. Citizen can be deported at any time, if they break the law.
Kong's wife says she will leave Fresno and move to Cambodia with her husband, if he's deported by the end of the month.
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