#U.S. JANUARY 26, 2018 / 3:49 PM / UPDATED 19 HOURS AGO

U.S. judge blocks prompt deportation of Cambodians

Dan Levine, Mica Rosenberg
3 MIN READ

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge late on Thursday said President Donald Trump’s administration cannot immediately deport 92 Cambodian citizens from the United States without first allowing them a chance to challenge the action in court.

U.S. immigration authorities conducted raids last October and arrested approximately 100 Cambodians, many of whom had fled the Khmer Rouge government in the 1970s.

After arriving in the United States, the Cambodians had been convicted of various criminal charges, and ordered deported years ago. However Cambodia refused to repatriate them, so they were released from immigration custody and many held down jobs until they were re-arrested last year.

In ongoing negotiations over immigration reform, the Trump administration is seeking stronger measures against immigrants who have been ordered deported but whose home countries refused to accept them, a senior administration official said.

In a ruling on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney in Santa Ana, California federal court ruled that 92 of the Cambodians still in custody could raise “serious questions” about the validity of their underlying convictions and deportation orders.

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