Purple Heart Army Veteran Forced To Self-Deport Under ICE Order

A Purple Heart Army veteran who said he took two bullets in the back while serving the U.S. during the invasion of Panama self-deported on Monday after receiving an order by immigration officials earlier this month.

Sae Joon Park, 55, who had lived in the U.S. since age 7, returned to his birth country of South Korea after being given an order related to drug and bail offenses from more than 15 years ago that he says were tied to PTSD.

Park confirmed his arrival in South Korea to HuffPost in a short message sent early Wednesday, local time. In it, he blamed President Donald Trump for his removal and said he “will try and start a new life here.”

Sae Joon Park, who received a Purple Heart after suffering gunshot wounds during the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989, self-deported to South Korea on Monday after being given an order by immigration officials earlier this month.

Courtesy Danicole Ramos

“My ICE officer told me last year, if Trump gets elected, there’s a good chance I’ll get deported,” he said.

Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin defended Park’s removal in a statement to HuffPost late Tuesday, saying his criminal history is “extensive” and he has “no legal basis to remain in the U.S.”

In addition to the drug conviction, McLaughlin said, Park has past convictions for possessing, manufacturing or selling a dangerous weapon, carrying a loaded firearm in a public place and assault.

His attorney, Danicole Ramos, told HuffPost that Park has “no knowledge of an assault charge” and that his firearm offenses “are related to the time he excitedly shot his gun into the air after finding out he got into the Army.”

Park, left, received the self-deportation order in relation to drug and bail offenses from over 15 years ago that he said stemmed from PTSD.

Courtesy of Danicole Ramos

“While Mr. Park was convicted of drug possession, his life is a story of redemption, which he achieved by remaining clean and sober and raising a wonderful family,” Ramos said.

Park, speaking with reporters before his deportation, said he had secured legal permanent residency under a green card as a child and at 19 enlisted in the Army. It was while fighting in Panama during the Noriega war in 1989 that he was shot twice and awarded a Purple Heart, which is awarded to any service member who is wounded in defense of the nation.

“In my mind, I’m going, ‘Oh my god, I’m shot in the back. I can’t feel my legs. I must be paralyzed,’” he told Hawaii News Now, while showing the scars on his back and his medal.

He was honorably discharged and returned to his then-home in Los Angeles where he turned to drugs as a coping mechanism while suffering from PTSD.

“I was suffering from PTSD severely,” he told NPR. “From sleeping nightmares to like, having just fearful thoughts all the time. Couldn’t watch horror movies, couldn’t hear loud noises.”

He said he was arrested while meeting up with a dealer in New York and was ordered by a judge to get clean before his next court hearing, which he said he knew he couldn’t do.

Park said he moved to Hawaii after his conviction to be closer to family. He raised two children, now in their 20s, while also caring for his aging parents and aunts.

Courtesy of Danicole Park

“So finally when the judge told me, ‘Don’t come back into my court with the dirty urine,’ which I knew I would, I got scared and I jumped bail,” he told NPR.

In addition to the possession of a controlled substance charge, he was consequently convicted in 2009 with bail jumping and served three years in prison. When he got out, he was detained by ICE agents and had his green card revoked.

It’s the bail-jumping conviction that hurt him the most, said Ramos, as it’s an aggravated felony that bars him from any potential relief from deportation. The controlled substance conviction is no longer a deportable offense.

Despite his convictions, he was allowed to stay in the U.S. under deferred action, with an agreement that he would check in each year and stay clean and out of trouble, which Park said he did.

He moved to Hawaii to be closer to family and raised two children, now in their 20s, while also caring for his aging parents and aunts.

“These last 14 years have been great, like really proud of myself, proud of my kids, how I’ve been acting and how I’ve been living my life,” he told Hawaii News Now.

But, just as Park had been warned, his deferred action abruptly ended earlier this month. He was given an ankle monitor and three weeks to leave the U.S. or face forcible deportation, he said.

“I get it. I broke the law and everything, but I think this is a little severe what they’re doing to me after I paid my dues, after I did my time for the offense that I did,” he told Hawaii News Now before leaving. “I thought I was doing my part to do whatever I have to do to be a good citizen and do everything right to stay in this country.”

Park said he spent his last three weeks in the U.S. with his family, including his mother, who’s in her 80s and in the early stages of dementia. He doesn’t expect to see her again.

“I was just very lucky to deport myself, remove myself, because they were ready to lock me up,” he told Honolulu station KITV. “And that is so unfair, and so many people are getting locked up.”

Ramos said he’s looking into potential options to bring Park back to the U.S. but acknowledged “it’s going to be a long shot.”

“I sent a request to the Queens District Attorney’s Office to replead his case where his bail jumping is no longer a felony and it drops down to a misdemeanor, and if we’re able to do that, then we can reopen his removal case and vacate it,” he said.

Ramos hasn’t received a response from the DA’s office as of Tuesday, he said.

This story has been updated with responses from Homeland Security and Park’s attorney.