A Long Beach man has been ordered by Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) to self-deport to Cambodia, a country he has never been to.
Sithy Bin was born in a refugee camp in Thailand to Cambodian parents who had fled the Khmer Rouge. He was brought to the U.S. as a toddler and has never visited Cambodia.
“Me being deported to Cambodia is no different from me being deported to any other country I’ve never been to,” Bin told the Signal Tribune.
According to the Office of the District Attorney of Stanislaus County, in September 2005 Bin went to the home of a rival gang member and fired gunshots at the house and people in the front yard. One of the shots he fired struck and injured an innocent bystander.
In 2008, Bin was sentenced to 40 years-to-life after being found guilty of the charges of shooting at an inhabited building, assault with a semiautomatic firearm and active participation in a criminal street gang. While in prison, Bin participated in rehabilitation and education programs, eventually becoming an ordained minister and peer mentor.
Bin was granted parole after serving 15 years in prison, but due to his immigration status, he was transferred directly into ICE custody to await deportation. Bin’s case highlights a controversial immigration practice in which the U.S. deports immigrants after they conclude jail or prison sentences.
Local immigrant rights groups, including ÓRALE and the Long Beach Southeast Asian Anti-Deportation Collective, have decried this practice, saying it punishes immigrants more than citizens for the same crimes.
During the pandemic, the close quarters of ICE detention became a health hazard due to the potential for COVID-19 to spread among detainees. Bin was included in a class action lawsuit, Zepeda Rivas v. Jennings, which led to the release of most detainees in Yuba County Jail and Mesa Verde Detention Center, including Bin. The settlement brought the number of people held in ICE custody at these facilities from 400 to under 100.
Since being released from prison and ICE detention, Bin has been working on giving back to the community as a way to make amends for his past actions. He reconnected with two other people he had been formerly incarcerated with, Major Bunton and Rafael Quiroz. The three men went on to co-found the Made New Foundation, which aims to connect those leaving the prison system with resources to help them reenter society.
“California is my home, and I grew up harming and hurting my home,” Bin said. “I want to bring healing […]. I can’t bring healing to a place I’m not at.”
On April 2, Bin had a regularly scheduled check-in with ICE. Bin said in the past his check-ins went by quickly, and he was able to complete them using a kiosk. But during the April 2 check-in, he waited for hours before being brought into an office with an ICE agent, who told him he had 60 days to self-deport to Cambodia.
In order to prevent his deportation, Bin has been seeking a pardon from California Governor Gavin Newsom. He has not currently heard back from the Governor’s office.
“Sithy is an incredible person who has turned his life around,” said Gaby Hernandez, executive director of the local immigrant rights organization ÓRALE. “He gives back to people, and he gives to everyone even if he doesn’t have anything himself. That’s the kind of person that Sithy is. He supports community. At any time, if somebody calls him, he’s going to respond and show up for that person.”
Bin got married four months ago to his wife Rose Solorio. Solorio, a U.S. citizen, has experienced health issues that cause her chronic pain, and Bin is the primary financial supporter of their household. Bin said due to her health issues, it’s difficult for his wife to sit in a car for more than two hours, let alone the 16-hour flight needed to get to Cambodia. It would also be difficult for her to relocate because she has pets, a mortgage and adult children here in the United States.
“She was bawling her eyes out, saying ‘I don’t know what I’ll do,'” Bin said of his wife.
Bin said he has no family living in Cambodia. The only people he knows there are three other deportees, who have been forced to reach out to him and others after arriving in Cambodia to ask for money because they were struggling to get by in the unfamiliar society.
According to an analysis of ICE data by NBC News, since Trump came into office, the number of people arrested by ICE has doubled, and the number of people being held in detention by ICE is higher than any other point in American history.
Hernandez told the Signal Tribune that there has been an increase since last year in calls to ÓRALE’s rapid response network, which keeps track of ICE activity in Long Beach. However, there has been far less ICE activity than compared to other areas.
“It’s definitely increased compared to what we had last year, but it’s not compared to the numbers that we’ve seen in the Central Coast, like Bakersfield, there’s no raids, we haven’t seen any of that, knock on wood,” Hernandez said. “But I think what we’ve seen is definitely an uptick on ICE reportings.”
Bin and his supporters are asking community members to call and write letters to the Governor’s office, urging Newsom to pardon him.
Since he is married to a US citizen, can’t he become a citizen?