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An Army Veteran and Purple Heart recipient who has lived in the U.S. for more than four decades self-deported to South Korea after immigration officials said he would otherwise be forcefully removed from the country.
Sae Joon Park’s removal order was related to drug possession and bail jumping charges he received more than 15 years ago when he was suffering from PTSD, his attorney Danicole Ramos, told USA TODAY.
Park, a 55-year-old green-card holder, boarded a plane from Hawaii to South Korea on Monday, June 23, and will wait in the country while his legal team works to reopen his case.
Park’s departure is the latest in a series of high-profile deportations of military veterans that have come as the Trump administration escalates immigration enforcement across the country.
“I can’t believe that this is happening in America,” Park told NPR before he left. “That blows me away, like a country that I fought for.”
Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that Park’s removal was based on his “extensive” criminal background.
“President Trump and Secretary Noem have been clear: criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S,” McLaughlin said. “If you come to our country and break our laws, we will find you, arrest you, and deport you. That’s a promise.”
Since his return to office, Trump has urged ICE officers to deliver “the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History,” invoked wartime powers to stymie immigration, and packed detention centers to the brim with immigrants, more than 40% of whom do not have a criminal record. ICE officials have snatched thousands of people off work sites and streets and, in some cases, agents have deported undocumented immigrants during routine court check-ins.
In May, border czar Tom Homan estimated the administration had deported roughly 200,000 people since January.
Why did Sae Joon Park self-deport?
Park moved to the U.S. at age 7 on a green card, his attorney said. After high school, he enlisted in the army, and was deployed to Panama, where he fought in the 1989 operation to overthrow the country’s de facto leader.
He was shot twice during that conflict, was honorably discharged, and received a Purple Heart for his bravery. But that’s where his problems began. Park turned to drugs for relief from PTSD-related nightmares and one night, was arrested for buying crack cocaine. He later skipped a court-scheduled drug test and served more than two years in prison, his attorney said.
When he got out, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents revoked his green card. Park appealed the decision and was allowed to remain in the U.S. so long as he checked-in annually with immigration agents.
That was until early June. At his check-in, ICE officials told Park they would detain him if he did not leave the country within weeks, Ramos, his lawyer said.
“I get it. I broke the law and everything, but I think this is a little severe what they’re doing to me after I paid my dues after I did my time for the offense that I did,” Park said to Hawaii News Now before he left for South Korea. “I thought I was doing my part to do whatever I have to do to be a good citizen and do everything right to stay in this country.”
Ramos said new case law could help overturn Park’s convictions. He has submitted a request to the Queens County District Attorney’s Office in New York to lower Park’s bail-jumping conviction to a misdemeanor, which he says could provide a pathway to reopen the removal case and bring Park back to the U.S.
“It’s a story of redemption,” Ramos said. “War shows the need for society to give second chances.”
Can military veterans be deported?
Former members of the Armed Services aren’t immune from deportation.
A Government Accountability Office report published in 2019 found that 92 veterans were deported between 2013 and 2018, 85% of whom were legal permanent residents and 30% of whom had applied for naturalization.
ICE, the report said, is required to take additional steps to remove noncitizens who served in the military, including considering the person’s overall criminal history, evidence of rehabilitation, family and financial ties to the United States, employment history, health, and community service.
It’s unclear how many veterans have been deported since Trump took office or if the administration has been following those policies.
In a June 24 letter to Trump administration officials, sent just a day after Park’s departure, nine Democratic members of Congress requested information on the servicemembers facing immigration proceedings and the policies being implemented to assist them.
They estimated that upwards of 10,000 veterans have been deported.
“These individuals have demonstrated their commitment to our nation through their military service, and the prospect of their removal from the country they swore to defend raises serious questions about our nation’s obligations and values,” they wrote.
Contributing: Trevor Hughes
