By Brad Lendon, Hanna Park, CNN
Seoul, South Korea (CNN) — A Korean-born US Army veteran who self-deported last year has been pardoned for the crimes that led to him leaving, raising hopes that he can return to the United States.
Sae Joon Park, 57, is among a number of noncitizen US military veterans who self-deported or were expelled from the country they fought for under President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.
He self-deported to the country he left as a child after immigration officials unexpectedly threatened to handcuff and arrest him at a scheduled immigration check-in due to a prior criminal conviction.
Park’s case drew national attention in December when lawmakers pressed then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a testy congressional hearing about veterans swept up in the crackdown.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday erased two convictions Park had in the state, bail jumping in the second degree in 2009 and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree in 2007.
Park and five other individuals Hochul pardoned Friday “have displayed positive changes in their lives and will dedicate themselves to bettering their communities — they earned their second chance through rehabilitation and can now establish their futures once again,” a statement from Hochul said.
“I still cannot believe this has happened. I am incredibly grateful to Governor Hochul for giving me this chance and for recognizing that I am more than the mistakes I made many years ago,” Park said in a statement issued by his lawyer, Danicole Ramos.
The pardon does not automatically mean Park can return to the US, but it gives him grounds to have his removal order vacated, Ramos said in a statement.
“This pardon represents a tremendous step forward and gives Mr. Park and his family renewed hope that, after more than a year of separation, he may one day be able to return to the country he has called home since childhood and for which he put his life on the line,” the attorney said, without giving an indication of how long that may take.
CNN has asked the Department of Homeland Security for comment on Park’s pardon. When asked about the case previously, the department pointed to Park’s criminal record as a reason for his deportation.
Purple Heart
Park moved to the US at age 7, traveling alone from South Korea after his parents’ divorce to join his mother in Miami. He later moved to Southern California and joined the US military after graduating from high school.
In 1989, he participated in the US invasion of Panama, where he was shot twice – in the spine and lower back – during a firefight.
Park was awarded a Purple Heart, a distinction for those injured or killed in combat.
After returning to the US, Park struggled with what he would later understand to be post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), turning to drug use to ease the pain.
He was arrested buying drugs in New York in 2007 and later convicted of possession of a controlled substance. Afraid he would fail his court-ordered drug testing while on probation, he fled New York, missing a court appearance, and returned to his family in Hawaii.
His family later convinced him to turn himself in after US marshals knocked on their door while he was out. He was convicted of second-degree bail jumping – an aggravated felony under immigration law – and sentenced to prison in New York before being released in 2011.
When he was released, Park said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were waiting for him due to a removal order issued by an immigration judge the year prior as a result of his criminal convictions, court records provided by his attorney showed.
After six months in ICE detention, Park was released and granted deferred action on his removal order based on his “equities of being a Purple Heart veteran,” Ramos previously told CNN, referring to a form of prosecutorial discretion that defers deportation without granting lawful status. The green card he came to the US on as a child was revoked, and he was barred from traveling abroad, but he was allowed to remain in the country and work legally.
For 15 years, he did just that – until a routine immigration checkin last June, when an ICE officer cited Park’s prior removal older and threatened to detain him on the spot, according to Ramos.
He said a deal was reached in which Park wouldn’t be detained if he wore an ankle monitor – and self-deported within three weeks.
After 49 years in America, Park packed his life into two suitcases and a golf bag and boarded a one-way flight to South Korea, leaving behind his two children, a son, 29, and a daughter, 25.
He now lives in Busan and because he speaks limited Korean, often relies on relatives to help navigate paperwork and daily logistics.
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