A California judge has granted a stay of removal order for around a hundred Cambodians who risk deportation. A new hearing will take place on 11 January 2018.

Cambodian deportees get temporary reprieve
18 December 2017
Cambodian refugees convicted of crimes in the United States have been granted temporary leave to remain in the country after a federal judge ruled they must not be deported until a January hearing into their case.

The United States District Court of the Central District of California granted the petitioners’ application for a temporary restraining order to prevent the deportation of approximately 100 Cambodian-Americans.

The decision came after petitioners filed an application last week seeking a stay of removal until they had the opportunity to challenge their deportation orders.

“It is hereby ordered that the government is temporarily restrained and enjoined from executing petitioners’ final orders for removal,” read the court document signed by judge Cormac J. Carney.

“Given the speed with which the government intends to remove petitioners, the court finds that a temporary restraining order is necessary to stay removal until the court can give proper consideration to the complex issues presented in this action.” ...
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5096484/cam ... -reprieve/

Breaking news.

Nine US deportees sent back to Cambodia
20 December 2017
Nine Cambodians have been deported from United States and arrived Phnom Penh on Wednesday, a senior police official told Khmer Times.

According to a senior immigration police official, the nine deportees were part of a group of about 50 who were rounded up and were supposed to send back to Cambodia this month, their departure was postponed due to a hearing in a US district court in January.

“According to the schedule, the nine people were set to arrive today at 10:45am,” the official Khmer Times.

This group of deportees were excluded from orders issued last week by a US federal judge in the United States District Court of the Central District of California, who granted the petitioners’ application for a temporary restraining order to prevent the deportation of approximately 100 Cambodian-Americans.
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5097057/nin ... -cambodia/

US governor pardons two Cambodian refugees
24 December 2017
Breaking news - Two Cambodians who were convicted of crimes in the United States were pardoned on Saturday by Jerry Brown, the Governor of California, who followed a tradition of giving pardons during the Christmas holidays.

Mony Neth and Kong Rattanak went to the US as children after their families fled the Khmer Rouge regime.

Mr Rattanak was convicted of joyriding in 2003 in Stanisalus Country at age 25 and sentenced to one year in jail. Mr Mony was convicted on a weapons charge and was part of a gang and was also convicted of a misdemeanor of receiving stolen property, according to attorney Kevin Lo, who is with Asian Americans Advancing Justice and the law firm Sidley Asutin LLP.

They were scheduled to be deported on December 20, but a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit filed by the attorney’s team to delay their departure, he said...
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5097670/us- ... -refugees/

Detainees in US claim Cambodian officials sought to extort them
29 January 2018
Local officials who were sent to interview Cambodians facing deportation from the US allegedly attempted to extort bribes from the detainees and their families, according to documents filed in a California court.

The detainees claim Cambodian officials promised to help stop their deportations if they gave the officials “gifts”, including Rolex watches, designer perfume, cash and iPhones.

Roughly 100 Cambodian citizens living in the US have been fighting their deportation orders after being rounded up by US immigration authorities in October. Many of them were brought to the US as refugee children fleeing the Khmer Rouge and were later convicted of a range of crimes in their youth.

In a ruling on Friday, US Federal Judge Cormac Carney said US immigration officials had violated the detainees’ due process rights by not giving them a chance to be heard before deporting them, and said that 92 who were set to be deported can stay while they fight their cases in court.
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/d ... xtort-them

Severely edited by TaaB.

US deportees arriving in Cambodia are struggling with the food, among other things. Americans are not used to eating fish and rice and fresh vegetables.

12 March 2018
Deported, and Sticking Out: ‘This Ain’t Home. America’s My Home.’
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — It was fish for breakfast and fish for lunch and fish for dinner.

“I hate fish,” Khan Hin said.

What Mr. Hin wanted was a burger. Maybe a bowl of Cap’n Crunch. Or some Tater Tots. “I’m feisty,” he said, “for my Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.”.

Mr. Hin’s palate is American. His vernacular, slang from the streets of Stockton, Calif., is American...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/depor ... li=BBnbcA1

[Edit: This was posted earlier on General Chatter. general-chatter/nyt-article-khmer-americans-t18779.html ]

Jerry Brown Pardons 5 Ex-Convicts Facing Deportation, Provoking Trump
31 March 2018
Gov. Jerry Brown of California on Friday pardoned five ex-convicts facing possible deportation, drawing criticism from President Trump and heightening continued tensions between Washington and California.

The five immigrants were among 56 pardons and 14 commutations Mr. Brown granted on Friday — Good Friday and the start of Passover — to those who have been out of custody for at least 10 years and have exhibited “exemplary behavior” after their convictions, the governor’s press office said.

They included a United States military veteran, Sokha Chhan, a refugee from Cambodia who served nearly a year in jail for the misdemeanors of inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and threatening a crime with the intent to terrorize. Phann Pheach, another Cambodian refugee who was pardoned, served six months for possession of a controlled substance for sale and obstructing a police officer...
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/31/us/c ... rants.html

More than 50 US deportees expected in Cambodia on Thursday
3 April 2018
The US is deporting 51 Cambodians who are expected to arrive in the country on Thursday, the single largest group of deportees in the history of the contentious 15-year repatriation program.

The group is expected to include deportees with chronic mental health and physical conditions, said 1Love Cambodia, a support group for the returnees. Most deportees also have criminal records.

"We’ve been informed that contrary to US agreements, this group includes people with chronic mental and physical conditions that will require our community’s unwavering support," the group said in a statement on its Facebook page. "We are hurt and enraged to say the least."

The group said it was seeking donations for the arrivals, including toiletries and food.

As many as 200 Cambodians are expected to be deported from the US this year, including many who grew up in the United States, have no ties to Cambodia and do not speak Khmer. In comparison, the Returnee Integration Support Center has received some 550 returnees over the past 15 years.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ ... a-thursday

67 year old Sophal Chuk is one of many US deportees due to be sent to Cambodia this year sometime.

Cambodian refugee arrested by ICE in Monona
Man who fled Southeast Asia 30 years ago now facing deportation
by Allison Geyer
May 3, 2018

On April 13, the eve of the Cambodian New Year, Sophal Chuk was shopping for groceries at the Viet Hoa Market in Monona when U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement agents tracked him down, arrested him and took him to a processing center in Milwaukee and later to an immigrant detention center in Dodge County. A 67-year-old Cambodian refugee who fled the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, Sophal Chuk had been living in Madison for more than three decades. Now he’s facing deportation, and his devastated family is doing everything they can to halt the process.

“We didn’t get a chance to say goodbye or anything,” says Sophal Chuk’s daughter, Molly Bennett. “We didn’t expect any of this to happen.”

Bennett fears for her father’s health and safety while in detention — and is terrified at what might happen if he’s sent back to Cambodia. He has numerous medical problems that require treatment.
http://isthmus.com/news/news/man-who-fl ... portation/