Former Inmate Released from ICE Custody Returns to California

Last week, Kao Saelee made headlines across the U.S. after returning home to California after being released from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Louisiana, where he had been since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the formerly incarcerated firefighter, and Mien refugee, has reunited with his family.

Before getting detained, he spent 22 years in prison for gang-related crimes he had committed at a young age. Outside of his troubled past, he was praised for combating some of the worst wildfires in 2018 and 2019.

“I am grateful to finally be free and reunited with my family in California, the only home I have ever known,” Saelee said in a statement provided by the Asian Law Caucus, according to Fox News. “The past ten months in ICE detention in Louisiana have been incredibly difficult. I hope that California chooses to stop turning over its residents to ICE so that no one else will have to go through this.”

In 2020, ICE made more than 100,000 administrative arrests for criminal convictions or pending criminal charges. Most non-citizens get deported without access to legal immigration help in Los Angeles. Although it had been months since his return, one can argue Saelee is one of the lucky ones. His freedom follows another inmate firefighter who had been in ICE custody. Bounchan Keola was also released from custody in January with the help of the Asian Law Caucus. However, that does not mean he can’t get detained again or deported back to Laos.

This is a fear many immigrants have. Legislators and officials are continuing to recognize that. Saelee’s release received support with 200,000 petition signatures and support from California lawmakers. Congressperson Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was among many organizers that urged Gov. Newsom to pardon and cease acts of transferring community members from prison or jail to ICE for removal.

The Asian Law Caucus is hoping Newsom will pardon Saelee and pass the VISION Act to protect immigrant community members from getting punished because of where they were born. The bill would prevent immigrants who are eligible for release from getting turned over to ICE detention centers. It would also cover community members who:

• Completed their sentence
• Were granted parole
• Had charges drops
• Approved release by a judge

Although California has sanctuary laws, prisons were exempt from following them – allowing them to continue cooperating with ICE. This bill would end the nature of their relationship. His attorney, Anoop Prasad, is hopeful but emphasizes there is still much reform to be made.

“Kao Saelee’s release affirms that each of us is far more than a mistake made decades ago,” Prasad said, according to Fox News. “As California works to address decades of misguided policies that led to mass incarceration, we cannot repeat those cruel practices.”