A Cambodian refugee detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) five months ago is returning home to his family in time for the holidays.

According to a press release from the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), Vibol Thou was officially released after a judge ruled last Thursday that the charges ICE brought against him were not grounds for deportation.

Thou was born in a Thai refugee camp in 1981, according to a petition created to stop his deportation. In 1984, he moved to Massachusetts with his sister and his mother. Due to a lack of support and resources for Southeast Asian refugees, as well as federal policies that targeted young Black and Brown men, Thou made a mistake when he was 18.

That mistake resulted in his incarceration and a removal order from the government. Thou made an effort to change his life after he was released, but the threat of deportation has hung over him for two decades.

In July, ICE detained Thou due to his criminal conviction at 18. According to AALDEF, ICE has charged him three separate times in an effort to deport him. While he was detained by ICE, Thou was unable to spend time with his family, including one of his children who is critically ill.

When ICE was informed that Thou’s son was sick, AALDEF says an agent simply told Thou, “Tell us when the funeral is.” 

“Vibol’s story highlights the cruelty of mandatory detention and our immigration system which is merciless in its criminalization and vilification of immigrants who, like all of us, aren’t 100% perfect,” Razeen Zaman, director of immigrant rights at AALDEF, said in a press release. “We are prepared to defend our community members with similar criminal convictions and removal orders that put them at constant risk of deportation and separation from their families.”

AALDEF confirmed that Thou has been reunited with his wife and children.

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