PARDON
Chanthon
Bun
Co-Executive Director at Asian Prisoner Support Committee Mr. Bun currently is in danger of deportation to Cambodia, a country that he does not
remember.
Mr.
Bun
was
born
in
Cambodia
during
the
Khmer
Rouge
genocide.
He
faced
starvation,
violence,
and
witnessed
atrocities
that
no
child
should
ever
have
to
witness.
He
escaped
Cambodia
with
his
family
across
the
border
into
Thailand
where
he
spent
years
in
a
crowded
refugee
camp.
Eventually,
they
were
resettled
in
California
as
refugees
when
he
was
a
six-year-old
child.
Growing up in Los Angeles, Mr. Bun was surrounded by poverty, violence, and trauma
from
the
genocide.
No
resources
were
provided
to
him
or
his
family
to
deal
with
the
trauma
or
to
adjust
to
life
in
the
United
States.
At
school
and
in
the
neighborhood,
Mr.
Bun
and
other
refugee
youth
faced
relentless
bullying
and
racism.
Mr.
Bun
and
young
boys
of
the
same
age
turned
to
gangs
for
a
sense
of
safety
and
acceptance.
In 1998, just after turning 18, Mr. Bun took part in a robbery of a business and was
arrested
shortly
afterwards.
California
as
well
as
the
rest
of
the
country
was
at
the
peak
of
mass
incarceration
and
harsh
sentencing.
A
judge
sentenced
Mr.
Bun
to
49 years
in
prison.
While incarcerated, Mr. Bun took on leadership roles in numerous volunteer programs such as San Quentin’s SQUIRES, which
mentors'
at-risk
youth,
facilitated
classes
to
help
incarcerated
men
process
trauma
through
programs
like
Restoring
Out
Original
True
Selves
(ROOTS),
California
Reentry
Institute
(CRI)
Guiding
Rage
into
Power
(GRIP),
and
Kid
C.A.T.,
a
group
advocating
for
youth
sentenced
to
prison.
Mr.
Bun
Was
a
teacher
assistant
for
Machine
Shop
and
Electronics
helping
younger
incarcerated
people
obtain
a
career.
Mr. Bun also became a passionate advocate against mass incarceration. Working with Asian Prisoner Support Committee (APSC),
Mr.
Bun
led
a
project
to
send
a
newsletter
to
Asian
and
Pacific
Islander
(API)
incarcerated
people
in
parts
of
the
country
where
there
were
few
other
incarcerated
API
people
to
let
them
know
that
they
were
not
alone.
Working
to
shift
narratives,
Mr.
Bun
worked
as
a
producer
with
KALW,
a
public
radio
station,
on
Uncuffed
,
an
award
winning
podcast
telling
the
stories
of
incarcerated
people.
After 23 years in prison, the parole board found that Mr. Bun should be granted parole. While waiting for review from Governor
Newsom,
Mr.
Bun
was
infected
with
COVID-19
while
in
San
Quentin
State
Prison
during
one
of
the
largest
outbreaks
in
the
country.
Community
organizations
called
on
Governor
Newsom
to
release
Mr.
Bun
and
not
turn
him
over
to
ICE
on
his
release
date.
On July 1, 2020, Mr. Bun left San Quentin State Prison as a free person. Although still seriously ill with COVID, Mr. Bun began
speaking
out
to
press
and
elected
officials
on
what
he
had
witnessed
during
the
outbreak.
He
began
organizing
memorials
and
fundraisers
for
loved
ones
lost
in
prison
due
to
COVID.
He
continues
to
help
run
“Mourning
Our
Losses”,
a
project
to
remember
the
lives
lost
to
COVID
in
prison.
After recovering, Mr. Bun joined Asian Law Caucus as a Yuri Kochiyama Fellow, a year long fellowship for formerly incarcerated
immigrants
and
refugees
to
take
part
in
organizing
and
advocacy.
Mr.
Bun
has
testified
before
the
California
Senate
and
elected
officials
on
incarceration,
immigration,
and
COVID-19
in
prisons.
He
regularly
speaks
with
the
press
and
community
organizations
to
shed
light
on
the
experiences
of
incarcerated
people.
Despite his release and transformative work, Mr. Bun remains at risk of arrest by ICE and deportation. A pardon from Governor
Newsom
would
protect
him
from
deportation
and
allow
him
to
remain
in
California,
the
only
home
he
has
known.
Learn more about the Asian Prisoner Support Committee 4 (APSC4) who are facing deportation at https://www.asianprisonersupport.com/apsc-4
PARDON
Borey
“Peejay”
Ai
Senior Community Advocate at Asian Prisoner
Support
Committee
Borey Ai (“Peejay”) was born in a refugee camp in Thailand where his family fled to
escape
the
Khmer
Rouge
genocide
in
Cambodia.
Peejay
and
his
family
came
to
the
U.S.
as
refugees
when
he
was
only
4-years-old.
Shortly
thereafter,
Peejay
became
a
lawful
permanent
resident.
Growing
up
in
a
poor
neighborhood
in
Stockton,
Peejay
spent
his
childhood
surrounded
by
poverty
and
violence.
In
the
first
grade,
he
survived
a
mass
shooting
at
Cleveland
Elementary
School,
now
known
as
the
“Cleveland
School
Massacre,”
during
which
a
gunman
opened
fire
with
an
assault
rifle
on
300
first
through
third
graders
during
their
recess
period.
All
of
the
fatally
shot
children
and
those
who
were
wounded
were
Southeast
Asian
refugees,
like
Peejay.
That
day,
he
witnessed
the
fatal
shooting
of
his
cousin.
By
the
first
grade,
Peejay
had
lived
through
unspeakable
tragedies
both
at
the
Thai
refugee
camp
where
he
was
born,
and
in
the
United
States.
Consequently,
as
a
young
child,
he
lived
in
a
constant
state
of
fear.
Peejay grew up in the 1980s and ‘90s-- during California’s prison boom, and when the
state
passed
a
proliferation
of
“tough
on
crime”
policies,
including
the
state’s
three-strikes
law,
mandatory
minimum
sentences,
and
trying
children
as
adults.
With
an
absent
father
and
a
family
that
lacked
the
resources
to
support
him
through
his
trauma,
at
a
very
young
age,
Peejay
turned
to
gang
involvement
for
a
sense
of
safety
and
acceptance.
When
he
was
14 years
old,
Peejay
and
three
older
gang
members
committed
an
armed
robbery
at
a
liquor
store.
The
store
owner
grabbed
Peejay’s
gun,
which
discharged,
killing
the
store
owner.
Peejay
surrendered
himself
to
the
police
and
was
tried
as
an
adult,
becoming
one
of
California’s
youngest
persons
to
be
sentenced
to
life
in
prison.
While in state prison, Peejay chose a path of transformation. He obtained his GED, and his Associate’s degree in Liberal
Arts.
He
completed
and
led
numerous
programs,
including
S.Q.U.I.R.E.S.
(a
youth
diversion
program),
Restoring
Our
Original
True
Selves
(ROOTS),
Guiding
Rage
Into
Power
(“GRIP”),
and
Kid
C.A.T.
(Creating
Awareness
Together)
Peejay’s
leadership
roles
in
groups
like
Kid
C.A.T.
resulted
in
important
juvenile
justice
reforms,
including
SB
9 (California
Fair
Sentencing
for
Youth),
and
SB
260
and
SB
261
(Justice
for
Juveniles
with
Adult
Sentencing).
Peejay
is
a
state
certified
rape
and
crisis
counselor
and
a
domestic
violence
counselor.
In
July
2016,
after
20 years
in
state
prison,
at
his
first
parole
hearing,
the
California
Parole
Board
acknowledged
Peejay’s
transformation
and
granted
him
parole.
On the day of Peejay’s release, rather than being reunited with his family who he had been separated from since the
age
of
14,
Peejay
was
transferred
directly
by
CDCR
to
an
Immigration
and
Customs
Enforcement
(ICE)
detention
facility.
Peejay
spent
a
year
and
a
half
in
immigration
detention
fighting
his
deportation
to
a
country
he
never
knew.
Through
a
grassroots
campaign
led
by
Asian
Prisoner
Support
Committee,
ICE
released
Peejay
on
May
10,
2018.
After
his
release
from
ICE
custody,
Peejay
worked
at
Guiding
Rate
Into
Power
(GRIP)
as
the
Project
Coordinator,
where
he
provided
support
for
GRIP
rehabilitative
programs
in
California
state
prisons,
including
conducting
and
planning
orientations,
trainings,
events,
reports,
and
other
administrative
work.
Peejay
also
served
on
the
Leadership
Team
for
the
Transformative
In-Prison
Work
Group
(TPW),
a
statewide
coalition
of
individuals
and
organizations
that
believe
in
the
transformative
and
healing
power
of
community-based
in-prison
programs.
Currently,
Peejay
is
employed
full-time
as
the
Community
Advocate
for
Asian
Prisoner
Support
Committee.
He
volunteers
with
youth
programs
in
Oakland,
including
Center
for
Empowering
Refugees
and
Immigrants.
Despite
his
release
and
transformative
work,
Peejay
remains
at
risk
of
deportation,
and
awaits
a
pardon
from
Gov.
Newsom.
Learn more about the Asian Prisoner Support Committee 4 (APSC4) who are facing deportation at https://www.asianprisonersupport.com/apsc-4
PARDON
Ngheip
“Ke”
Lam
Programs and Facilities Manager at APSC
Nghiep Lam was born in Hai Phong, Vietnam. At age 2, Nghiep and his parents fled
Vietnam
by
boat
with
about
50 other
people
to
escape
the
Vietnamese
Communist
Party.
They
were
stranded
in
the
South
China
Sea
for
6 months
before
being
rescued
by
some
fishermen.
At
the
age
of
4,
Nghiep
came
to
the
United
States
with
his
parents
and
younger
brother
as
a
refugee
and
resettled
in
the
Bay
Area.
Nghiep’s parents separated when he was 6 years old. They moved into government
housing
in
the
Potrero
Hill
District
of
San
Francisco.
There
was
a
lot
of
violence,
drug
dealing,
and
poverty.
Nghiep
became
a
victim
of
bullying.
Kids
would
throw
rocks
at
him,
spit
on
him,
push
him
down
to
the
ground
and
racially
mock
him.
Nghiep
turned
to
his
mom
for
support
about
the
bullying,
but
only
to
be
told
“Be
quiet.”
Consequently,
Nghiep
began
isolating
his
emotions
and
himself
in
his
room.
At
age
15,
Nghiep
was
jumped
into
an
Asian
street
gang.
He
felt
a
sense
of
belonging,
safe,
and
understood.
The
other
Asian
gang
members
grew
up
with
similar
struggles
of
bullying,
culture
discrimination,
and
racism.
Six days after Nghiep turned 17, he participated in a gang altercation, which led to him taking the life of another youth.
Nghiep
knew
he
did
something
horrible
and
the
next
day
he
turned
himself
into
police
custody.
Nghiep
had
no
previous
criminal
justice
involvement.
The
juvenile
judge
stated
he
was
unfit
for
juvenile
court
because
of
the
nature
of
the
crime
and
Nghiep
was
tried
as
an
adult.
A
judge
sentenced
him
to
27 years
to
life
with
the
possibility
of
parole.
While in prison, Nghiep turned his life around, addressed his past trauma, and worked to take accountability for the harm he
had
caused.
Despite
being
a
leader
in
prison
and
upheld
as
a
model
of
rehabilitation,
Nghiep
had
little
hope
of
leaving
prison.
Working
with
Human
Rights
Watch
from
inside
San
Quentin,
Nghiep
founded
the
KidCAT
program
for
youth
sentenced to life in prison and advocated for SB260 and SB261 reforming the parole process.In November 2015, Governor Brown found Nghiep posed no threat to public safety and granted him parole after serving over 22 years. The day
Nghiep
was
supposed
to
be
released
he
was
arrested
by
ICE
and
faced
deportation
back
to
Vietnam.
But
after
5 months
in
ICE
detention
he
was
released
after
Vietnam
declined
to
accept
him
for
deportation.
Currently, Nghiep still lives in a limbo state without a clear form of immigration status and does not know when he will be deported.
Despite
the
uncertainty,
Nghiep
set
out
to
give
back
to
his
community.
When
Nghiep
was
released
in
April
of
2016,
he
started
volunteering
with
Asian
Prisoner
Support
Committee’s
(APSC)
and
later
joined
staff
as
a
reentry
navigator
using
his
lived
experience
to
help
others
break
the
cycle
of
incarceration.
Since
his
release,
Nghiep
has
been
honored
by
the
San
Jose
Mayor
and
Supervisors,
Asian
Health
Services,
and
Alameda
County
for
his
activism
and
community
service.
Outside
of
his
full-time
job,
Nghiep
works
with
Urban
Community
Garden,
repairing
and
donating
hundreds
of
bicycles
to
children.
A pardon is Nghiep’s sole avenue to prevent deportation and restore his immigration status. I encourage you to use your clemency
power
to
pardon
Nghiep
so
that
he
may
remain
in
the
United
States
and
continue
to
serve
his
community.
Learn more about the Asian Prisoner Support Committee 4 (APSC4) who are facing deportation at https://www.asianprisonersupport.com/apsc-4
PARDON
Maria
Legarda
Reentry Navigator at Asian Prisoner Support Committee Maria Legarda, an immigrant and community leader, is currently facing the threat
of
deportation
to
the
Philippines
after
17 years
of
incarceration.
Maria was born and raised in Manila, Philippines. Growing up, life at home for Maria
and
her
family
was
filled
with
emotional
and
financial
challenges.
At
10 years
old,
Maria’s
sister
passed
away
after
a
6-year
battle
with
juvenile
rheumatoid
arthritis
and
complications
from
leukemia.
This
tragedy
caused
immense
grief
and
left
her
parents
with
insurmountable
medical
debts.
As
the
eldest
of
three
siblings,
Maria
felt
financially
responsible
for
her
family
but
low
wages
in
the
Philippines
made
it
impossible
to
pay
debts
and
support
her
family.
So,
like
many
Filipinos,
Maria
made
the
hard
decision
to
leave
the
country
to
seek
work
at
a
young
age.
In 2001, Maria immigrated alone to the United States on a work visa. As a young
woman
raised
in
a
family
that
never
talked
about
emotional
and
personal
struggles,
Maria
found
it
difficult
to
cope
with
loneliness
and
life
in
the
U.S.
With
the
immense
pressure
to
make
money
to
help
care
for
her
family
in
the
Philippines,
Maria
turned
to
drugs
to
deal
with
unresolved
trauma
and
personal
challenges
while
living
in
Los
Angeles,
California.
During
this
vulnerable
time
at
age
21,
she
began
to
talk
to
a
man
online
for
companionship,
chatting
and
texting
before
agreeing
to
meet.
In
their
first
encounter,
he
raped
Maria
and
she
became
pregnant.
With
no
one
to
confide
in
and
fearing
shame
if
she
told
her
family,
she
continued
to
turn
to
meth
to
help
her
escape
the
trauma
of
the
rape.
The
more
she
used
drugs,
the
deeper
she
fell
into
addiction.
Maria’s
substance
use
led
to
her
going
into
premature
labor
and
losing
her
child.
In
2004,
at
age
23,
Maria
was
convicted
of
1st
degree
murder
and
sentenced
to
25 years
to
life.
While in prison, Maria chose a path of personal healing and transformation. She worked hard on herself by seeking therapy,
and
she
participated
and
later
facilitated
numerous
self-help
groups
and
programs
such
as
Narcotics
Anonymous,
Survivors
of
Incest
and
Rape,
Bridges
to
Life,
and
Victim
Offender
Education
Group.
Maria
also
served
as
a
panel
member
for
the
Beyond
Incarceration
Program,
in
which
she
mentors
at-risk
youth.
She
also
volunteered
her
time
with
the
Gifted
Hands
Crochet
Program
and
Pillowcase
Project,
crocheting
blankets,
beanies,
and
scarves
for
children’s
hospitals.
In
2019,
Governor
Brown
granted
Maria
parole,
finding
that
she
is
not
a
threat
to
public
safety.
On
the
day
Maria
was
released
from
state
prison,
CDCR
directly
transferred
her
over
to
ICE
for
deportation.
Maria
sat
in
an
immigration
detention
center
for
almost
a
year
during
the
worst
of
the
COVID-19
pandemic.
Since her release from detention, Maria has continued to work on her healing and give back to her community. Maria works
with
the
reentry
team
at
APSC
helping
people
successfully
return
home
from
incarceration.
In
particular,
Maria
is
passionate
about
women’s
rights
and
healing
the
systematic
trauma
of
incarceration.
Maria
launched
the
Community
and
Reentry
Empowerment
(CARE)
Program
providing
reentry
services
to
women,
trans,
and
non-binary
people
who
are
often
overlooked
from
advocacy
on
incarceration.
Although the threat of deportation still hangs over Maria, she refuses to give in to fear and has continued to build a new life
while
remaining
grounded
in
a
strong
network
of
family,
friends,
and
community
members
in
the
Bay
Area.
Learn more about the Asian Prisoner Support Committee 4 (APSC4) who are facing deportation at https://www.asianprisonersupport.com/apsc-4