Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. A Transformed Life on Hold Linh Dan In September, Lam Hong Le faces what may be the last step in his deportation process. He was told to obtain a Vietnamese passport and bring it with him to his next hearing'¯on September 8 in Yuba, California. "I left Vietnam 42 years'¯ago," said'¯Le, 53, who fears a difficult life ahead. The Socialist Republic of'¯Vietnam, with its capital in the northern city of Hanoi, considers Vietnamese from the south'¯who fled the'¯communist regime'¯to be traitors. Le is one of many Southeast Asian refugees who faced a rough landing upon arrival in the United States in the years after the fall of Saigon in 1975. His trajectory ended with a 1990 shooting at a California birthday party. Le was convicted of murder when he was 24. Sentenced to 34 years to life, prison authorities paroled Le and'¯on December 23, 2019, released him from San Quentin State Prison into the custody of U.S.'¯Immigration and Customs'¯Enforcement (ICE). After his release, Le began working at a'¯San Francisco homeless shelter, which deemed the Oakland resident an essential worker during the pandemic.'¯He's up for a promotion. A rally to seek a pardon for Lam Hong Le is organized by Tsuru for Solidarity, outside California's State Capitol in Sacramento, June 4, 2021. (Kiyoshi Ina) Now, to avoid deportation to Vietnam, Le is seeking a pardon from California Governor Gavin Newsom. In 2019, the governor [1]pardoned several Cambodians'¯and [2]Vietnamese.'¯Just months ago, in May, Newsom [3]pardoned'¯two Laotians with life stories similar to Le's. But Newsom's past performance is no indicator of Le's future. A spokesman for Newsom's office on August 4 responded to'¯a request'¯for comments'¯by'¯VOA Vietnamese,'¯saying via email that the office'¯"cannot discuss individual clemency applications but can ensure that each will receive careful and exclusive consideration." Petitions and protests Le's case is the topic of [4]petitions and protests in the San Francisco Bay Area.Satsuki Ina, an activist who is a licensed'¯psychotherapist specializing in community trauma, told VOA Vietnamese that Le "is someone who'¯we really feel'¯deserves to be protected." A rally to seek a pardon for Lam Hong Le is organized by Tsuru for Solidarity, outside California's State Capitol in Sacramento, June 4, 2021. (Emiko Omori) Vietnam War refugees like'¯Le, who came to the U.S.'¯before July 12, 1995 -- the date on which'¯Washington'¯and'¯Hanoi'¯officially reestablished a relationship'¯upended by the war'¯-- were supposed to be protected under'¯a bilateral agreement signed in 2008. But'¯President Donald Trump's administration'¯singled out pre-1995 refugees with criminal records for deportation to Vietnam in'¯a'¯November 2020 [5]memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the U.S. and Vietnam. Representative'¯Alan Lowenthal, a California Democrat,[6]'¯criticized'¯'¯the MOU'¯with Vietnam as'¯"morally disturbing," saying it violated "clear promises the U.S. made to these refugees after the Vietnam War." Le'¯said he shouldn't be sent back to'¯Vietnam'¯where he has no connections. His story is [7]echoed throughout the U.S. as the nation's [8]policy on immigrant offenders undergoes revisions. At a time of increased fear in Asian American communities because of COVID-19-related backlash and hate crimes,the deportations increase the uneasiness. Violent'¯past Large-scale immigration from Vietnam to the United States began at the end of the Vietnam War,'¯when the fall of Saigon led to the U.S.-sponsored evacuation of an estimated 125,000 refugees, according to a report by the Migration Policy Institute. As the humanitarian crisis and displacement of people in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos'¯intensified, the U.S. admitted more refugees and their families'¯under the'¯1980'¯[9]Refugee Act,'¯which'¯amended'¯the earlier Immigration and Nationality Act and the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act. Le'¯was 12 and his'¯younger brother Mickey Le,'¯10,'¯in 1979 when they left Ho Chi Minh City,'¯which had been known as Saigon, without their parents. After a year in a Hong Kong refugee camp,'¯the brothers arrived in Los'¯Angeles'¯in 1981. They were among [10]more'¯than 231,000 Vietnamesewho arrived in'¯the U.S.'¯in the early'¯1980s. Most'¯Vietnamese refugees entered the U.S.'¯through sponsorships just like'¯Le and his brother.'¯The sponsors'¯included'¯churches, individual families and companies with'¯links to refugees through'¯Vietnamese employees, according to'¯the'¯[11]Online Archive of California.'¯ The refugee settlement process assigned the brothers'¯to'¯different sponsors. Although'¯Mickey settled in and adjusted to his American life, his older brother fled what he described as an abusive situation when'¯he was 14. Le took refuge in a gang, [12]a common storyamong southeast Asian refugees in the U.S. Le was first imprisoned'¯in'¯1986'¯when he was 19 years old'¯for assault with a deadly weapon,'¯a felony'¯that carried a sentence of five'¯years.'¯He'¯was'¯released after'¯serving'¯two years.'¯After murdering a'¯member of a'¯rival gang, he'¯received a sentence of 34 years to life in 1990. "I thought I was going to die there,"'¯said Le, even though his sentence carried the possibility of parole. Transformation and release But'¯Le transformed'¯himself in California's San Quentin State Prison,'¯participating in educational programs, attending'¯church and'¯assisting other inmates. In December 2019, the state's'¯Board of Parole Hearings granted him release, and he left prison after'¯serving a total of 32 years. Waiting for him at the gates were officers of ICE, who had been notified by state prison officials of Le's release.'¯He was'¯remanded to'¯an'¯ICE'¯detention center in Yuba County,'¯where he was held'¯for two months and eight days before being released for deportation proceedings. While awaiting word from Newsom's office, Le lives in'¯a'¯transitional house in'¯Oakland, California, and works in nearby San Francisco. "[Le]'¯got a full-time job providing'¯services to homeless people in San Francisco and he's about ready to be promoted to supervisor because he's done so well, being kind to people, and it's gotten a lot of praise,"'¯said Ina, who is a co-organizer'¯of [13]Tsuru for Solidarity,a'¯Japanese American social justice organization'¯focused on ending'¯mass detention'¯and'¯"racist, inhumane immigration policies"'¯in the U.S. Lam Hong Le volunteers to clean the streets in Oakland Chinatown, Calif. (Tsuru for Solidarity) "He has'¯volunteered as'¯a street ambassador in Oakland's Chinatown where he cleaned the streets and also escorted elders during the'¯[14]anti-Asian hate,"said Ina, who was born in'¯a U.S. internment'¯camp'¯for Japanese Americans'¯during World War II. In'¯May,'¯Le'¯used CPR to save the life of a'¯homeless man who had overdosed,'¯according to Ina. Jeffrey Gray, the'¯man revived by Le,'¯told Bay Area TV station KTVU'¯that he'¯is "very'¯thankful Le was there." Ina's group is working with the'¯[15]Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, a'¯national rights group;'¯the [16]Sacramento Immigration Coalitionand other advocacy groups to'¯mobilize'¯support to persuade Newsom to pardon Le. 'His survival is in question' "If deported, [Le] will face a hostile Vietnamese administration'¯subject to government surveillance and stigmatized'¯as'¯a traitor. '¦ He will face discrimination in finding'¯employment and other'¯opportunities to find a secure existence. With no family connections and meager resources, his survival is in question," read a petition with more than 3,450 signatures. Le, who is at risk of being'¯deported'¯soon,'¯needs a direct pardon from the governor. Waiting for California's pardon review process'¯to decide on his case could take years, according to Ina. Ina said that'¯deporting Le is a violation of the'¯original agreement protecting refugees who arrived before 1995. She hopes that Newsom will make an exception and expedite Le's case. "We feel'¯like'¯if we could get him a'¯pardon,'¯it would bring'¯enough'¯attention that other Southeast Asian, particularly Vietnamese'¯refugees'¯would be'¯protected from being deported back," said Ina. After being released from ICE custody, Le reunited with'¯his younger brother in Oakland in January 2020. "We cried," Mickey Le said'¯of meeting'¯his brother after nearly 30 years. Lam Hong Le, left, and his brother Mickey Le at their reunion during the July Fourth holiday weekend in Los Angeles. (Lam Hong Le) The brothers'¯next met'¯over'¯the July Fourth holiday'¯weekend'¯in Los Angeles.'¯Mickey, who is married with three children and runs'¯a small business in Los Angeles, said,'¯"I am so happy to see what [he] is doing to serve the community, and I hope that he would be able to stay in the U.S." Le said his life has been completely transformed with his release and his job. "Now I have'¯a'¯chance to make a real change," Le said, adding that he dreams of living a peaceful life and being able to pay'¯back'¯the community'¯groups'¯supporting'¯him. "I'¯would like to get an'¯opportunity to share my experience with children," Le said, referring to his'¯past as a young'¯offender. "I would'¯want to advise homeless children not to go the'¯wrong way like I did." References 1. https://www.voacambodia.com/a/California-governor-pardons-3-in-bid-to-block-deportations/5170454.html 2. https://www.voatiengviet.com/a/thong-doc-california-an-xa-di-dan-viet-bat-chap-chinh-quyen-trump-tang-cuong-truc-xuat/5170803.html 3. https://www.kqed.org/news/11876037/newsom-pardons-formerly-incarcerated-firefighters 4. https://www.ktvu.com/news/advocates-rally-for-vietnamese-refugee-in-oakland-poised-to-be-deported-by-ice 5. https://lowenthal.house.gov/sites/lowenthal.house.gov/files/Vietnam%202020%20MOU-redacted.pdf 6. https://lowenthal.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-lowenthal-slams-newly-released-2020-us-mou-vietnam-allowing 7. https://www.inquirer.com/news/immigration-immigrant-southeast-asia-asian-violence-cambodia-vietnam-laos-deportation-detention-20210327.html 8. https://www.npr.org/2021/02/18/969083367/biden-tells-ice-to-chill-new-rules-limit-who-immigration-agents-target-for-arres 9. '%80%AFhttps://www.archivesfoundation.org/documents/refugee-act-1980/ 10. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/vietnamese-immigrants-united-states-5#Income%20and%20Poverty 11. https://oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb8g500803;NAAN=13030&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=ch04&toc.id=0&brand=oac4 12. https://socialinnovation.usc.edu/files/2013/05/Sullivan.1991a.pdf 13. https://tsuruforsolidarity.org/ 14. https://www.npr.org/2021/02/12/966940217/anger-and-fear-as-asian-american-seniors-targeted-in-bay-area-attacks 15. https://www.searac.org/ 16. https://www.facebook.com/SacImmigrantCoalition2015/ .