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The Image of the Black Criminal in Cambodian Poverty and Deportation Struggle
by Tamara K. Nopper
February 7, 2003
In March of 2002, the US signed a secret repatriation agreement with Cambodia. Repatriation is the forced return, or deportation, of an immigrant back to their country of origin. The US government repatriates any non-citizen (of any status) who is convicted of an "aggravated felony" in the US or who overstay their visas. When someone is repatriated, they cannot return back to the US, even to see loved ones. Over 200,000 Cambodian refugees live in the US. Approximately 1,500 Cambodians have orders of deportation. On June 22, 2002, the first six Cambodians were deported to Cambodia; in September another eleven followed. More have been deported since, including an elderly man in his eighties.
Many of the Cambodians at risk of deportation had received bad advice from lawyers and judges. They were told that there was little chance a repatriation agreement would be signed between Cambodia and the US. Because of this, many Cambodians waived their claim to relief from deportation. Since there was no repatriation agreement between Cambodia and the US, Cambodians convicted of aggravated felonies became "lifers" -those who serve indefinite sentences in INS prisons because they cannot be deported. This means that they first served time in US prisons for their original conviction, then in an INS detention center. Many immigrants are deported when they are "released" from INS detention. Unlike those immigrants who were "deportable," Cambodians were kept in INS prisons without knowing if, or when they would be released.
In June of 2001, the US Supreme Court decision Ma v. Reno ruled that "lifers" should be granted custody reviews. This allowed many indefinite detainees to temporarily return back to their communities. Yet this repatriation agreement places Cambodians at risk of deportation.
