Not sure why I didn’t hear about this latest outrage from ICE earlier, seeing as how this particular victim was a fellow resident of Hawaii, or why it apparently hasn’t been mentioned here yet, but Sae Joon Park’s story has now spread around the world — and even ultra right-wing rags like the Daily Caller seem suitably upset. Indeed, this story seems so shockingly unbelievable that Snopes had to issue a fact check testifying to its authenticity. NPR probably has the most detailed look at what happened to this South Korean who came to America as an immigrant to be with his mother when he was just 7 nearly 50 years ago:
For 55-year-old U.S. Army veteran Sae Joon Park, this was the hardest moment of his life. Not getting shot in combat. Not the years battling post-traumatic stress disorder or addiction. Not prison. It was leaving the U.S., a country he called home for nearly five decades.
On Monday, Park, a green-card holder, self-deported to South Korea. His removal order was the result of charges related to drug possession and failure to appear in court from over 15 years ago — offenses that, he said, stemmed from years of untreated PTSD.
Park's story reflects both the challenges of life after combat and the perils that noncitizen veterans face if caught in the legal system — realities made harsher amid the Trump administration's push for record deportations.
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Growing up, Park said he didn't have many positive influences. But he looked up to his uncle, a colonel in the South Korean military. After high school, Park enlisted in the U.S. Army.
"I wanted direction and [to] better myself and maybe help serve the country," he said.
When 20-year-old Park finished basic training, he was deployed to Panama — unaware that he would soon be part of the 1989 U.S. invasion known as Operation Just Cause to topple Manuel Noriega's regime.
Park ended up getting shot twice in an unexpected firefight with Panamanian troops and had to be evacuated back to the US where he was awarded a Purple Heart for his injuries, and then honorably discharged from the US army.
Though his body eventually recovered from the paralysis caused by a bullet lodged near his spine, his mind took much longer to heal.
Back then, Park didn't know he was dealing with PTSD. So, he never sought help and the trauma slowly took a toll. He eventually turned to drugs to cope.
" I had to find some kind of a cure for what I was going through," he said.
Throughout his 20s and 30s, he battled a crack cocaine addiction. One night in New York, while meeting up with a dealer, police appeared and arrested Park. Later, he skipped one of his court hearings.
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Park was charged with possession of a controlled substance and bail jumping, which derailed his chances of naturalization or getting relief from a deportation order.
Park said for a long time, citizenship was not a priority because he did not fully grasp the consequences of remaining a noncitizen. Although the U.S. offers expedited naturalization for those who serve honorably in the U.S. military for at least one year, or a single day during wartime, Park was discharged before he had served 12 months and the invasion of Panama was not classified as a period of hostility.
Seriously?! Even though he was awarded a Purple Heart for injuries suffered in combat?? Some additional details from the Guardian:
Park spent a few years in prison beginning in 2009 after police in New York arrested him while he tried to buy crack from a dealer one night, he said. At one point, Park skipped a court hearing related to his arrest knowing he would fail a required drug test. That doomed his chances of converting his legal residency into full US citizenship, which the government offers to military veterans who arrive to the country from abroad and serve honorably.
A judge ordered Park’s removal from the US, though he was allowed to remain in the country on the condition that he checked in annually with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents. That arrangement is typically offered to people whose removals are not considered a priority, and Park took advantage of the opportunity to settle in Hawaii while raising a son and daughter.
Then earlier in June, as NPR noted, Ice officials under the Trump administration’s direction warned him that he would be detained and deported from the US unless he left voluntarily in the coming weeks. He chose to bid farewell to his friends, children and mother, who is aged 85 and battling the early stages of dementia.
Park told KITV he realized he may never see any of his loved ones again as he prepared to fly out of Honolulu’s Daniel K Inouye international airport.
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The Trump administration has been unapologetic about its immigration policies. And on Wednesday, the assistant homeland security department secretary, Tricia McLaughlin, issued a statement saying Park’s history “includes convictions for possession, manufacturing or selling a dangerous weapon, carrying a loaded firearm in a public place, assault and criminal possession of a controlled substance”.
McLaughlin’s statement didn’t elaborate on Park’s record – but it also said his prior, adjudicated removal order deprived him of the “legal basis to remain in the US”.
“If you come to our country and break our laws, we will find you, arrest you and deport you,” McLaughlin’s statement said. “That’s a promise.”
Park told KITV and NPR that he considered himself fortunate to have been able to be a US soldier and control how he left the country. But he also maintained his treatment at the hands of Ice was “so unfair”.
Indeed, his parting shot as reported by Newsweek kind of sums it all up:
A United States Army veteran who was forced to self-deport to South Korea has told Newsweek he will only return once President Donald Trump leaves office.
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"President Trump sucks. I will try to come back after Trump leaves," Park told Newsweek in a statement.
