Woman condemns Vietnamese husband's deportation to South Sudan
[Source]
A woman in Pierce County, Washington state, has expressed outrage after her husband was unexpectedly deported to South Sudan instead of Vietnam as planned.
Tuan Thanh Phan came to the U.S. from Vietnam in 1991 at age 9 with legal permanent residence status. In 2000, he was convicted of first-degree murder and second-degree assault following a gang-related shooting that injured a bystander, resulting in approximately 25 years in prison. His green card was revoked in 2009 during his sentence, leading to a deportation order.
ICE took him into custody on his March 3 release and transferred him from the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma to a Texas immigration facility. In a May 21 press release, the Department of Homeland Security labeled him and his fellow deportees 'uniquely barbaric monsters who present a clear and present threat to the safety of the American people.'
Ngoc Phan, 40, had prepared extensively for her husband's anticipated deportation to Vietnam, collecting luggage, arranging family pickup abroad and planning to reunite with him within three to five years to begin fresh. 'We've accepted it. We planned for it, and we were looking forward to it,' she told NPR.
Trending on NextShark:
But on May 20, ICE agents collected her husband and others, first indicating South Africa as the destination, then switching to South Sudan with minimal advance notice. 'I'm angry about it,' she said. 'They want to call him a barbaric monster without really understanding the details of his case ... He [already] did 25 years.'
Phan's deportation is part of the Trump administration's strategy to send immigrants to third countries when their home nations would not accept them. Vietnam has historically limited acceptance of deportees, though it signed a 2020 agreement making it easier to accept those who arrived before 1995 — ideally including Phan's situation.
Federal judge Brian Murphy in Massachusetts, however, ruled the deportations violated due process by not providing adequate time to contest removal to a non-origin country. Murphy ordered the men be given credible fear interviews while detained at a U.S. military base in Djibouti, where they remain as the administration appeals to the Supreme Court.
Trending on NextShark:
Ngoc says she has not been able to contact her husband since his departure. The Supreme Court has given lawyers until June 4 to respond to the government's appeal.
This story is part of The Rebel Yellow Newsletter — a bold weekly newsletter from the creators of NextShark, reclaiming our stories and celebrating Asian American voices.
Trending on NextShark:
Subscribe free to join the movement. If you love what we're building, consider becoming a paid member — your support helps us grow our team, investigate impactful stories, and uplift our community.
Subscribe here now!
Trending on NextShark:
Download the NextShark App:
Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today!
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Supreme Court Suffers Embarrassing ‘Software Malfunction'
The U.S. Supreme Court has suffered an embarrassing technical screw-up after releasing the cases it would hear to attorneys and others in the legal community days ahead of schedule. It's the second such event in less than 12 months, following the accidental release of major case updates last year. Notifications about which cases would be granted or denied review next week were not supposed to be released until Monday, but an 'apparent software malfunction' saw the decisions released to lawyers on Friday afternoon. Mass confusion reigned as multiple attorneys compared the information in their inboxes to the court's online docket, which did not match up. As such, the court then made the unusual move of publicly releasing its orders list. 'Due to an apparent software malfunction, email notifications concerning action by the Court scheduled to be included on the order list set for release on Monday, June 9, at 9:30 a.m., were sent out this afternoon,' Supreme Court Public Information Officer Patricia McCabe said in a statement sent to reporters. 'As a result, the Court is issuing that order list now.' In June of last year, the court suffered a similar technical issue which saw a major abortion rights ruling briefly uploaded in error. This followed the serious leak of the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, which set off a major political firestorm. 'Accidents happen, and the court should be encouraged to provide more access to its rulings, like the email notification service that apparently caused today's glitch,' Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at Georgetown University Law Center has said. The Supreme Court has been contacted for comment.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
American tourist, 41, died after drinking psychedelic tea at spiritual retreat in Peru
An American tourist died after drinking a psychedelic tea that caused a 'breakdown' of several organs while he was on a spiritual retreat in the Peruvian Amazon, according to reports. Aaron Wayne Castranova, 41, died Monday after ingesting ayahuasca — a potent hallucinogenic plant brew banned in the US — during a shamanic ritual at La Casa de Guillermo ICONA, a hostel known for its 'spiritual tourism' in Loreto. The hypnotic elixir triggered a multi-organ 'breakdown' that caused the Alabama man's lethal spiral, according to Narciso Lopez, the regional prosecutor's forensic pathologist, the Daily Mail reported. Advertisement Aaron Wayne Castranova, 41, died Monday after ingesting ayahuasca during a shamanic ritual at La Casa de Guillermo ICONA. Hostel managers reportedly claimed Castranova failed to inform ceremony organizers he was on antibiotics, which may have caused the fatal reaction, ahead of the ritual in Santa Maria de Ojeda's indigenous community. The mind-altering concoction, long used by Amazonian tribes for spiritual and healing rites, has surged in popularity among tourists seeking transformative experiences or relief from their mental health struggles — despite warnings from the US Embassy in Peru about its adverse effects. Advertisement 'These dangerous substances are often marketed to travelers in Peru as ceremonial or spiritual cleansers,' the US embassy website states. 'However, Ayahuasca is a psychoactive substance dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a strong hallucinogen that is illegal in the United States and many other countries.' Officials said that several US citizens died or suffered severe physical and mental health crises last year after consuming the drug. Others were sexually assaulted, injured, or robbed while under its influences, the website cautioned. Advertisement The trance-inducing mixture, made from a vine and leaf containing the powerful psychedelic, can cause 'irreversible damage' and death, Lopez warned, according to Infobae, an Argentine online news outlet. Officials said that several US citizens died or suffered severe physical and mental health crises last year after consuming the drug. Talita Santana Campos Embassy officials noted it can also lead to psychosis, neurological diseases, insomnia, and persistent hallucinations. Advertisement Short-term effects include nausea, vomiting and increased heart rate. Castronova's death comes a year after Maureen Rainford, a British mother of three, suffered a similar fate after using the reality-shifting drug at a Bolivian retreat, the Daily Mail reported.
Business Insider
an hour ago
- Business Insider
Americans are questioning the value of a college degree. Trump is joining the debate.
President Donald Trump wants to tweak a traditionalfeature of the American dream: a college degree. Trump has continued to escalate his battle with Harvard University, threatening to cut off the Ivy League school from federal funding if it does not meet the administration's demands, which include eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and cracking down on campus activism. The latest threat against Harvard, however, floated shifting funding to trade schools, an alternative path to a four-year college degree. "I am considering taking Three Billion Dollars of Grant Money away from a very antisemitic Harvard, and giving it to TRADE SCHOOLS all across our land," Trump wrote in a May 26 post on Truth Social. "What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!!!" The White House's press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, added onto the president's comments in an interview with Fox News: "Apprenticeships, electricians, plumbers, we need more of those in our country, and less LGBTQ graduate majors from Harvard University. And that's what this administration's position is." Over the past few years, a growing number of Americans have started to question the value of a college degree due to high costs and a tough labor market, making trade schools and apprenticeships a favorable alternative. It marks a shift in the standard American dream, in which a four-year college degree had been viewed as a step to middle-class success. However, Jon Fansmith, assistant vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education, told Business Insider that taking funding away from Harvard and other research institutions isn't the answer to boosting investment in trade schools. "The money that he is talking about withholding from Harvard is money that Congress provided to research agencies to perform advanced scientific and biomedical research," Fansmith said, adding that Harvard earned grant money because "they had the best researchers, the best laboratory facilities, the best understanding of how to advance that science," he continued. "You can't simply take that money and use it for another purpose." Madi Biedermann, deputy assistant secretary for communications at the Department of Education, told BI that "American universities that are committed to their academic mission, protect students on campus, and follow all federal laws will have no problem accessing generous taxpayer support for their programs." 'Two very separate stories' Higher education doesn't have the same draw that it once did. Some Gen Zers previously told BI that despite being taught that college was the primary path to success, they felt they could make a living by directly entering the workforce or going to trade school. Please help BI improve our Business, Tech, and Innovation coverage by sharing a bit about your role — it will help us tailor content that matters most to people like you. What is your job title? (1 of 2) Entry level position Project manager Management Senior management Executive management Student Self-employed Retired Other Continue By providing this information, you agree that Business Insider may use this data to improve your site experience and for targeted advertising. By continuing you agree that you accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . That's why Trump's push to invest more in trade schools is important, Fansmith said — they help Americans get a stable career to support themselves and their families, and the federal government can help support those schools by asking Congress to approve more funding, not redirecting the funding unilaterally. "There are two stories here. One is this administration's attack on Harvard, and the other is, what is the role of trade schools, and is there a need for more support for trade schools? And as much as the president's trying to conflate the two, those are two very separate stories," Fansmith said. While Trump's big spending bill proposes some provisions to expand Pell grant eligibility to short-term programs, it does not detail a significant funding increase for trade schools. The Trump administration's rhetorical focus on trade schools isn't new. Before he won the 2024 election, Linda McMahon, now Trump's education secretary, wrote an opinion piece in The Hill advocating for the expansion of Pell Grant eligibility to workforce training programs. "Our educational system must offer clear and viable pathways to the American Dream aside from four-year degrees," she wrote. Trump also signed an executive order on April 23 to strengthen and expand workforce development and apprenticeships programs, which McMahon called a "significant step in ensuring every American can live their American Dream." Congress' role in rethinking education For years, Democratic lawmakers have been pushing for greater access to postsecondary education options, like free community college, and there has been bipartisan agreement on the need to boost apprenticeships and workforce programs without redirecting funding from higher education institutions. Amid the heightened focus on alternatives to a four-year college degree, the New York Federal Reserve said in a recent report that college still pays off; the median worker with a college degree earns about $80,000 a year, compared to $47,000 for a worker with just a high school diploma. Trump hasn't yet implemented his idea to redirect Harvard's federal funding to trade schools, and it's unclear how, or if, he will attempt to follow through. While he has already withheld billions of dollars from Harvard and other schools across the country for failing to meet his administration's political demands, the moves have been met with lawsuits, and Fansmith said it's likely more legal action would ensue should Trump attempt to move around funding without congressional approval. "We're talking about spending money that Congress said would go to support really critically needed research into things like cancer and Alzheimer's and diabetes, and other things that impact everyday Americans' lives, and give it to trade schools," Fansmith said. "Trade schools are great schools. They have lots of benefits. They deserve a lot of federal support, but not just to make a political point at the expense of Harvard." Jason Altmire, president and CEO of Career Education Colleges and Universities — a group that represents for-profit colleges — said in a statement that Trump's focus on trade schools "is an investment in America's workforce." "The best way to support trade schools is to reduce the regulatory burden facing private career schools while increasing funding that allows students interested in the trades to choose the highest quality school," Altmire said.
