These PSAs come on the 25th anniversary of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRAIRA), which enables the mass deportation of noncitizens with who have come into contact with the criminal legal system and increases punitive measures against immigrants and refugees. Through this new series of PSA videos, SEARAC seeks to honor the individuals and communities who have been devastated by the heightened deportations of Southeast Asian Americans, a practice that began with the passage of IIRAIRA and continues today.
To view any of the videos below, click on their image or their title. You can also find all videos, now available with subtitles in Hmong, Khmer, Lao, Mien, and Vietnamese, on SEARAC’s YouTube channel.
Somdeng (Danny) Thongsy
Danny’s Story: I want others to know that they are not alone in this, they have support
In the ’60s and ’70s, during the United States’ Secret War in Laos, the US dropped hundreds of millions of bombs, making Laos the most heavily bombed nation in history. Danny Thongsy was born in a Thai refugee camp after his family fled these dire conditions. This is Danny’s story.
Read Danny’s storySomdeng (Danny) Thongsy is a Laotian refugee who grew up in an overpoliced neighborhood with few opportunities. Since his release from prison in 2016, he has turned his life around and was even granted a pardon by California Governor Gavin Newsom. ICE is now trying to deport him.
Chanthon Bun and Tith Ton
Tith’s and Chanthon’s Stories: Forging a friendship, strengthening their communities
Tith Ton’s parents were farmers in their homeland of Cambodia. When the Khmer Rouge took over, they were forced to work in a labor camp, where Tith was born. When the Vietnamese took over, he and his family fled through the jungles. Chanthon Bun was born during the Cambodian New Year in the same province as Tith. During the Khmer Rouge takeover, his uncles were all soldiers, and his mother followed them to take care of them.
Read Bun’s and Tith’s storiesChanthon Bun is a refugee from Cambodia, a survivor of the Killing Fields, and the current Yuri Kochiyama fellow at the Asian Law Caucus. He is a thriving community member of system impacted individuals and immigrants of all backgrounds. He also lives under the constant threat of deportation and is doing this project because he wants marginalized communities to be seen.
Tith Ton is a refugee from Cambodia. He is a new dad looking forward to raising his child and starting a new family. He feels blessed to have the opportunity for freedom and wants to make life meaningful for others. He faces deportation to a country he once fled, where he knows no one.
Nghiep (Ke) Lam
Ke’s Story: Accepting and healing from harm, but fearing deportation
Nghiep “Ke” Lam doesn’t remember his early life in Hai Phong, Vietnam. He would learn later that he and his parents fled Vietnam in late 1977 by boat, after the Viet Cong took over, in fear of persecution for being ethnically Chinese.
Read Ke’s storyNghiep (Ke) Lam is a refugee from Vietnam whose family survived the South China Sea and Hong Kong refugee camps to make it to America. He is a member of a resilient and kind community of formerly incarcerated individuals, artists, queer leaders, and members of community organizations. He is doing this project in order to help give voice to the thousands of people fighting for their freedom to be accepted as citizens. He has been honored by every level of the US government (city, county, state, and federal) for his work and yet he can be deported at any moment to a place he barely knows.
Ge Vang
Ge’s Story: Deportation threatens to tear apart three generations of family
Ge Vang was born in a Thai refugee camp in 1978 as the fourth of five children whose father fought alongside American troops as a captain under General Vang Pao in the Vietnam War. His two oldest siblings passed away during the War. In August 1978, when Ge was eight months old, he and his family arrived as refugees in Houston, TX. Eventually, they settled into affordable housing in St. Paul, MN, where some of Ge’s relatives lived.
Read Ge’s storyGe Vang is a Hmong refugee who is a leader in the Hmong culture Vang clan. He is a father of four kids, including Damu who joins him in this PSA. He recently won post-conviction relief but still faces the threat of deportation. He wants people in similar circumstances to understand that they are not alone and that there are communities that want to help.
Deportations tear families apart, weaken and traumatize communities, and leave lasting, intergenerational wounds that negatively impact our health, wellbeing, and economic security. Our hope is that the personal stories uplifted in these PSAs will shine a light on the injustice and cruelty of the United States deportation machine and build a wave of support for ending deportations of Southeast Asian Americans and all immigrant and refugee communities.
The New Way Forward Act (H.R. 536) provides a bold vision of what our immigration system should look like, one that does not rely on mass criminalization, detention, or deportation. New Way Forward repeals some of the worst provisions of the 1996 immigration laws that are directly responsible for expanding the incarceration of immigrants, creating a fast track for deportations without due process, setting the foundation for local police and ICE collaboration, and cementing the pipeline from arrest to deportation. If you are moved by the stories from this series of deportation PSAs, we encourage you to contact your Members of Congress by calling the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and urge them to co-sponsor the New Way Forward Act.