Sundas Ejaz DB 10

In the “Forgotten Asian Refugees fed into the U.S. Prison System” by Kimberley Yam, she discusses how Cambodians had fled to the US in order to escape the communist regime in their home country. She talks about how  a refugee named Phal Sok and his family migrated to the US to escape the regime. However, they had faced many issues such as they received very little support, were poverty stricken, Soks mother left when he was 2, and his father passed away which resulted in him turning to gang and criminal activity due to depression. Refugees are then settled in poof areas and then are forced to assimilate into society themselves which is extremely difficult. They grew up poor, and were bullied constantly, which eventually led to many southeast Asians turning to gang activity. Because the law is stricter on refugees, many of them, like Sok, risk being deported back to Cambodia, even though he has never been there. Due to an increased amount of ICE activity under the Trump administration, many Cambodians fear they may be deported. Conditions under ICE detainment aren’t great either, and people are being forced to return to their country despite the US initially letting them in as refugees. Deportation had resulted in many issues such as, families being torn apart, increased PTSD/trauma/depression among deportees, and some even turn to alcohol/drug abuse, and even worse, suicide. There is no benefit that comes out of deporting refugees, and it’s also hypocritical, because as stated before, they are being forced to return to Cambodia by the same country who has accepted them in as refugees. In my opinion, it’s very unfair how refugees are treated here. How does the same country that accepts them in doesn’t care about them at all? It just shows that the US has never really cared about poc, and the treatment they face here. Activists like Sok are working to help the incarcerated youth and with other SE Asians so they don’t go down the same path. It’s great that at least SE youth have some type of support from their own community when the US couldn’t prove it for them.