Cambodian man freed from ICE detention after Philly groups push for his freedom
May 3, 2021
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Saroun Khan, now 41, was about four when he and his parents landed in Philadelphia in 1984, as refugees from the Cambodian genocide. After serving more than a year in an ICE jail for an old crime--taking a car as a teenager—he has finally been freed from custody. Khan’s case was handled by the Pennsylvania Immigrant Family Unity Project (PAIFUP), of which NSC is a founding member. PAIFUP brings free legal representation to immigrants in deportation proceedings who don’t have access to a lawyer. Now that Khan has been released, his legal team is fighting to prevent his deportation back to a country he hardly knows. “He knows this fight isn’t over,” said his lawyer, Lilah Thompson, of NSC. “But he feels very relieved to be home.”