Southeast Asians in Los Angeles are being detained, deported at routine ICE check-ins
A growing number of Southeast Asian immigrants in Los Angeles and Orange counties whose deportation orders have been on indefinite hold for years are being detained, and in some cases, deported after showing up for routine check-ins at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices, according to immigrant lawyers and advocacy groups.
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In recent months, a number of
Cambodian
Laotian and
Vietnamese immigrants have been told that deportation orders that had been stayed – in some cases for decades – are now being enforced as President
Donald Trump 's administration seeks to increase the number of deportations.
The immigrants being targeted are generally people who were convicted of a crime after arriving in the US, making them eligible for deportation after their release from jail or prison. In most cases, ICE never followed through with the deportations because the immigrants had lived in the US long enough that their home countries no longer recognised them as citizens, or as is the case with Laos, the home country does not readily issue repatriation documents.
Instead, under long-standing policies, these immigrants have been allowed to remain in the US with the condition that they checked in with ICE agents regularly to show they were working and staying out of trouble. The check-ins generally start out monthly, but over time become an annual visit.
They are also afraid to report based on what they have seen on the news
Lee Ann Felder-Heim, lawyer
According to the Asian Law Caucus, as of 2024 there were roughly 15,100 Cambodians, Laotians and Vietnamese nationals living in this situation across the
US
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