The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania has filed a Freedom of Information Act request in federal court regarding the detention and deportation proceedings of Sereyrath "One" Van, a longtime lawful permanent resident who resided in Philadelphia prior to his detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Mr. Van was born in Thailand in 1980 after his family fled the Cambodian genocide. He was admitted to the United States as a refugee at the age of four, and is now a Green Card holder.
After a 2018 arrest, ICE began removal proceedings against Mr. Van. In 2021, an immigration judge ordered that Mr. Van be deported to Thailand, or if not possible, to Cambodia – a country that Mr. Van has never set foot in. At the time, ICE was unable to remove Mr. Van. They re-detained him briefly in 2023 but released him again, this time under ICE supervision.
For months, Mr. Van complied with his order of supervision, which included regular check-ins at an ICE field office. In August 2024, ICE detained Mr. Van at his ICE check-in and brought him to Moshannon Valley Processing Center.
The Freedom of Information Act request filed on behalf of Mr. Van seeks all records regarding ICE’s detention and planned deportation of Mr. Van, including any correspondence between embassy officials and ICE. This is particularly important because Mr. Van faces removal to a country where he has never set foot and his removal order, which ICE provided to him and which ICE has to provide to embassies to seek travel documents, had been visibly modified. Having an understanding of the representations ICE has made in seeking travel documents for him—including whether the altered removal order was used to seek travel documents under false pretenses—and ICE’s policies and practices on seeking travel documents is critical in protecting Mr. Van’s rights.
