U.S. Army Veteran Who Self-Deported Under Threat of ICE Removal Speaks Out

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Now, in the United States as some immigrant families fear the Trump administration’s ICE crackdown, they are taking the painful decision to leave the United States, even if it means separating from their families. One such case is that of Sae Joon Park, a U.S. Army veteran recently forced a self-deport back to South Korea over decades old drug charges that were linked to PTSD that he suffered. The Purple Heart recipient and his attorney, Danicole Ramos, join Michel Martin to share his story of leaving behind the only country he’s ever called home.

 

MICHEL MARTIN: Thanks. Christiane. Sae Joon Park, Danicole Ramos. Thank you both so much for speaking with us today. 

 

SAE JOON PARK: Thank you so much.

 

DANICOLE RAMOS: Thank you.

 

MARTIN: Mr. Park, I’m gonna start with you. You came to the United States by yourself when you were so young. So as briefly as you can, would you just tell us what, what brought you to the United States at such a young age and alone?

 

PARK: My mom came to the United States when I was six, and I was living with my father at the time. So he read me a letter from my mom and asked me if I wanted to go live with my mom. So, at that time, as a young child, I made that choice to go live with my mom. So he set up everything, they put a little tag on me, and then I got on a plane by myself and got escorted from Korea to Hawaii, Hawaii to LA, LA to Dallas, to Dallas, to Miami. That’s where I reunited with my mom at seven years old. Yes.

 

MARTIN: At one point you enlisted in the Army. You went into combat in Panama during the, the US military action in Panama. You were only 19 years old, I understand that you were shot, you were actually shot in the spine.

 

PARK: Yes. Well, I turned 20 in basic training. So when I joined at 19, and then during the war, I was 20 years old, early 20. It was a second day, second day patrolling around. I got shot twice in the back. One was in the spine and the other one, left lower back, and it went in. My body tumbling around, dodging all my vital organs, the lung, the liver, the heart. If I take an x-ray, I light up like a Christmas tree. I still have little shrapnels left inside of my body. And I was very fortunate, lucky even.

 

MARTIN: Well, I’m very glad that you’re here with us to tell us to tell us the story. But you received the Purple Heart, which is acknowledging that you were wounded in action and then you were honorably discharged. You were honorably discharged. It’s my understanding, though, that you struggled after you left the service. Why, why do you think that is? Can you tell us a little bit about that?

 

PARK: At the time, there was no such thing as PTSD, but I didn’t know what it was. I had nightmares almost every night. I couldn’t sleep. I had nightmares. I had cold sweats out of nowhere. I couldn’t watch war movies. I couldn’t hear loud sounds. Like at the time in LA there was a lot of gunfire going on. Every night you could hear the gunshots. So every time I would hear a gunshot, I would get nervous and start acting out. I couldn’t tell anybody what I was going through, because once again, there was no such thing as PTSD and like being a male was supposed to be a tough guy. So I didn’t wanna go crying to anyone of what I was feeling. So I really had to deal with everything on my own.

 

MARTIN: Well, just forgive me with, with respect. There was such a thing as PTSD that apparently there just was no language for it then. Do you think that you started self-medicating as a consequence of that?

 

PARK: Well, I, I definitely feel that way because marijuana helped. Marijuana helped me go to sleep without dreaming, ’cause I had nightmares all the time, and I found a way if I smoked weed, that I wouldn’t get nightmares and I would actually get to sleep at night. So that’s what kind of started off. Eventually it led to harder drugs. So eventually I started doing crack cocaine and, which pretty much took control of my life at such a young age. And that’s where the final, when I did get arrested, it was possession of crack cocaine. Yes.

 

MARTIN: And also is, is my understanding bail, not bail, jumping or not meeting a required court appearance. Is that accurate?

 

PARK: Yes. Well, the judge gave me a few chances. So he told, she told me one time, like, Mr. Park, next time you come into my courtroom with the dirty urine, you will be sent to prison. Oh. So me being scared and nervous – that that happened in New York. So I got in my car and from New York, I drove to LA and then from LA got on a plane and went to Hawaii. 

MARTIN: Oh, okay. 

PARK: And then a year, a year and a half later, the US Marshals came looking for me, and then I turned myself in once I found out they were looking for me.

 

MARTIN: You did serve time in prison. You then did have many, many years of sobriety. You raised a family. It’s my understanding that you’ve, how else can I put it? You have fulfilled your obligations to the country. Is that, would that be fair to say?

 

SJP: Speaker 4 (07:31):

PARK: Well, yes. I lived with without addiction for many years. So when I went to prison, that when people say, when you hit rock bottom, it’s easy to quit. Literally, when I went to, sent to prison, that was my rock bottom. I started praying every night, losing my kids, losing my family, not knowing how long I’m gonna be gone for. So that really helped me kick the drug habit. Cold Turkey. It was not hard after that. 

 

And then when I did get released, I wanted to catch up my time with my children and live a good life. And which I have been doing, checking with, with ICE or immigration officers every year. At first it was once a month, and then three, once every three months, and then once every six months. And eventually, since I was doing good, they put it to once every year. And that’s how I’ve been living for the past 14 years. Over 14 years.

 

MARTIN: So here’s where I wanna turn, turn to your attorney, Danicole Ramos – It’s my understanding that that Mr. Park did have a removal order. Would that be as a consequence of this drug conviction? Would that have been that?

 

RAMOS: Yeah. So for Mr Park’s situation, he had a removal order based on two convictions that happened in New York that he mentioned. So one was the possession of the controlled substance, and then the other was jumping bail when he missed that drug court that drug testing date mandated by his judge. So those two convictions alone were the, were what immigration and customs enforcement used to insert a removal order on him. 

 

Now, the thing that was the most serious out of the two convictions were his bail jumping. And in immigration law, bail jumping is considered an aggravated felony. And for aggravated felonies in immigration law, they’re very serious crimes. They’re considered convictions that have no potential relief from deportation or, and it can possibly permanently bar you from naturalizing as a US citizen. We can think of them as like murder. We can think of them as rape. We can think of them as robbery or trafficking drugs or human trafficking. It seems surreal that jumping bail is considered an aggravated felony, almost the equivalent of murder, rape, robbery, dealing drugs. And so, because of that bail jumping conviction that he had in New York, that was the reason that he was barred from any relief or cancellation from removal. And that’s why that removal order was reinstated in 2010.

MARTIN: Mr. Park had a removal order, but he’s lived in this country for all this time. So he had a removal order for 14 years, and then nothing happened. So then what happened?

 

RAMOS: Yeah, so when he first got his removal order, immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, has discretion to enforce which removal orders they want to do. And so what then they decided to work on was, Hey, Mr. Park, you know, you do have a removal order. You did do these convictions, but we’re gonna put you on something called deferred action. And deferred action is what ICE uses as their discretion to say ‘hey, you do have a deportation order. We can remove you’ but, you know, considering Mr. Park’s you know, background as a Purple Heart veteran they decided that he wouldn’t be considered a priority for deportation. They would just let him live his life, but with certain restrictions, as he mentioned, right?
So with it, checking in with ICE on a regular basis, making sure that he stays clean and sober. And then he does have work authorization. So he is still allowed to work. He had to pay about thousands of dollars a year to renew that work permit, but he was able to live his life so long as he, you know, had no criminal record and staying clean and sober. 

 

MARTIN: So then what happened? I mean, so last month, what, what happened last month? 

 

RAMOS: Yeah, yeah. So for Mr. Park you know, he was warned at his last check-in back in May of 2024, that if President Trump returns to office, there’s a, like, there’s a strong chance that he would get his deferred action taken away, and that the removal order back in 2010 would be enforced. 

We go back in June of last month to check in with the ICE officer. And the ICE officer said, and I, and I, I remember vividly what he told me at staging was like, because of this new administration, because of this new regime that we’re gonna have to take away your deferred action. And the ICE officer did say to him that ‘you know, I could detain you right now’ but what we worked out with ICE officers like, ‘hey, that doesn’t look good that you’re gonna detain him right now because his whole family is here waiting for him at his ice check-in.’ So what we agreed to do is that Mr. Park would self, would self deport, put on an ankle monitor until then and have an itinerary to leave the United States by the end of the month. 

 

MARTIN: Hmm. Mr. Park, can I just ask what went through your mind when you heard this? 

 

PARK:  That night when I went home I think it was my PTSD acting up. I had a hard time sleeping that night. ’cause Knowing that I could have been detained and I could have been in a jail cell instead of me being at home. It did a lot to me. And it was surreal. I had three weeks to remove myself. I, my children, my parents, they’re old. And my aunt and uncle, they’re all old, and I’ve been kind of taking care of them. So processing everything was really tough. 

I just couldn’t believe that it was actually happening. I haven’t been to Korea in over 30 years, like 30 years literally. So it’s like going back to a country that I have no idea about. So it was really tough, and a lot was going through my mind all the way through, to the day I got on that plane.

 

MARTIN: You almost made the ultimate sacrifice – I mean, you took two bullets, a bullet in the spine for the United States. And so I’m just curious, if you don’t mind my asking why you never got citizenship?

 

PARK: No, that’s – I’ve been asked that a lot. You have to understand, like I came when I was seven years old, legal resident with the Green card through my mother and everything. I never, I always thought I was almost equivalent as a citizen. I never joined the military to get a citizen. It wasn’t like that. I always felt like I am an American because I came here so long, early and with the legal Green card, I thought I was, I couldn’t just live in the United States like a normal citizen person. And then I had other priorities. I was still young and just never thought getting a citizenship was on the top of my priority because I thought I was an American. I served for the country, and I just thought it was normal and legal for me to just live in the United States with a green card. I really felt that way. Obviously, I was wrong.

 

MARTIN: There are those who would argue that a person who breaks the law, especially a felony — achieving citizenship through naturalization is a privilege, not a right, and that you forfeit that right by breaking the law. For someone who felt that way, what would you say?

 

PARK: No. I made mistakes. I was – exactly. I had a drug addiction. It wasn’t like a violent crime. I wasn’t hurting other people. I was hurting myself. Now I realized it was mostly due to my PTSD and other problems I had, but I never, like, denied that fact that yes, I did break the law. I wasn’t in a right clear mental state, even with my kids and everything. It was tough. It was tough living that life as an addicted person, trying to make it through every day with the struggle of being a drug addict. So I totally understand when people say that about me, because that’s who I was at the time. Struggling with drugs.

 

MARTIN: So we did reach out to ICE about why your deferred action was revoked after more than a decade of compliance, as Mr. Ramos just laid out. And this is what the agency said in a statement. They said: “Sae Joon Park’s extensive criminal history includes convictions for possessing, manufacturing or selling a dangerous weapon, carrying a loaded firearm in a public place, assault and criminal possession of a controlled substance. In 2010, an immigration judge issued him an order of removal. Park’s appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals that same month was dismissed by the board in April, 2011. With no legal basis to remain in the US and a final order of removal, Park was allowed to self-deport to Korea. President Trump and Secretary Noem have been clear: criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the US. If you come to our country and break our laws, we will find you, arrest you and deport you. That’s a promise.” So that’s what they have to say about that. So, can I hear from each of you about how you respond –

 

PARK: Yes, about that, I don’t know where they came up with the manufacturing the weapon, because I’ve never done that. I’ve never manufactured no dangerous weapon on that. Yes, I have been arrested with the possession of a gun. The reason we moved to Hawaii from LA was, we were the victims of, our family was, the LA riots. Our store burnt down during the LA riots, got looted, and at that time, early nineties, just from going to work in south central LA I would always carry a gun. I didn’t have a permit for it or anything like that, but it was for safety, and one day I got pulled over and I had a concealed weapon on me. That’s where that gun charge came from.

And then the firing was – I was celebrating me joining the Army on top of, with a couple friends shooting up in the air. The fire arm, possession of gun, those two are real but I never manufactured no guns or solicit drugs. That’s, I don’t know where they got that from. ’cause that wasn’t what I did. That was not part of that.

 

MARTIN: Mr. Ramos what do you have to say about that? You heard the ICE statement. What do you, what would you say to that?

 

RAMOS: Yeah, so first of all, I’ll say Mr. Park was never what they quoted as a “criminal illegal alien.” He came here legally as a green card holder. So I just wanna get that record straight.  And then the second part I want to respond to with that comment with DHS is, what does deporting – how does deporting someone like Mr. Park, a Purple Heart veteran who served this country, took two bullets for this country, and despite his past mistakes, was able to turn his life around, redeem himself, raise two kids, have a job, and then while at the same time, take care of his elderly mother who’s facing early onset stages of dementia. How does that, how does deporting him make this country safer? 

 

When I think about Mr. Park’s situation, right, there’s a, a lot of veterans like him who have gone through what he’s gone through, suffered PTSD from a deployment they also went through some drug addiction. And like Mr. Park, they overcome it, you know, and we, they, they get support to overcome it. The difference between them and Mr. Park is that Mr. Park has this immigration status of his, that affects his ability to stay in the United States. And, and punishes him for past mistakes, even though he showed that he’s redeemed himself. And I think in every aspect of Mr. Park besides paper, he is an American. Every sense of him, every part of his story is American. I think there’s so many parts of it that, that I think people across the country can resonate with.

 

MARTIN: So Mr. Park, what was it like to go back to Korea after not having lived there for so many years?

 

PARK:So it has been really tough. It hasn’t been really tough. It’s – tomorrow will be exactly one month since I’ve been here. It’s been a long month, so I am doing my best. I’m still hopeful. Maybe one day I can make it back to my family, my real family, in Hawaii.

 

MARTIN: So, Mr. Ramos, before we let you go, does Mr. Park have any recourse? Does he have any legal recourse to your knowledge?

 

RAMOS: Yes, he does. We’re looking at all these legal options and, and I’ve, I’ve expressed this to Mr. Park before. It’s gonna be a long process and a long shot. So the main thing that we’re working on right now is we sent in a request a month ago to the Queens District attorney’s office to replay those two convictions that caused his deportation order in the first place: so it’s the possession of the controlled substance and then the jumping bail.

There’s been new law in 2023 for, from the second Circuit that makes his possession of controlled, possession of a controlled substance no longer a removable offense. However, he still has this bail jumping conviction which is the aggravated felony that barred him from any kind of relief or cancellation of removal.

So what we sent in a request with to the District Attorney’s office in Queens is that asking if they would be willing to negotiate with us to at least take that bail jumping from a felony and drop it down from a misdemeanor. If it’s dropped down to a misdemeanor, at least a misdemeanor, it allows us some opportunity to reopen his removal order in immigration court, request a court to then vacate it. And then if those conviction — all those convictions are vacated and the removal order is vacated, then there’s possibly a pathway for him to come back to the United States.

 

MARTIN: Sae Joon Park, Danicole Ramos. Thank you both so much for speaking with us today.

 

PARK: Thank you. 

 

RAMOS: Thank you.