A U.S. Army veteran self-deported Monday to South Korea after immigration officials allegedly told him to leave the U.S. or be detained and deported over previous run-ins with the law, NPR reported.
Sae Joon Park, 55-years-old, told NPR that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in Hawaii — where he lived — checked in with him earlier in June and warned him to leave within a few weeks or risk detention and deportation.
Park, a green card holder, had lived in the U.S. since age seven and received a Purple Heart for his injuries in his short Army stint, according to NPR.
He was jailed in 2009 for alleged drug possession and bail jumping, according to the outlet. He told the outlet that he did not pursue naturalization because he did not fully understand that remaining a non-citizen could cost him someday.
He was also ineligible for the expedited naturalization offered to veterans, as he served less than 12 months and in combat not designated a “period of hostility,” NPR reported.
“ I can’t believe that this is happening in America,” Park told NPR before exiting the country. “That blows me away, like a country that I fought for.”
Park joined his mother in Miami when he was seven-years-old, according to the outlet. He entered the U.S. Army after high school in search of “direction and [to] better myself and maybe help serve the country,” he told the outlet.
Upon deployment to Panama at age 20, Park fought in the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama, according to NPR. Returning sudden enemy fire one afternoon, Park was reportedly shot twice and injured. He survived because one of the bullets hit his dog tag, and he was rushed to the hospital in time, NPR reported.
Park was reportedly evacuated to the U.S. where he was honorably discharged and awarded a Purple Heart. Traumatized by his experience without knowing what mental health issue he was dealing with, he did not seek treatment but eventually developed a crack cocaine addiction that lasted throughout his 20s and 30s, the outlet reported.
“ I was suffering from PTSD severely,” Park told NPR. “From sleeping nightmares to like, having just fearful thoughts all the time. Couldn’t watch horror movies, couldn’t hear loud noises.”
“ I had to find some kind of a cure for what I was going through,” he added.
The police reportedly arrested him in New York as he met with a drug dealer.
“I just couldn’t stay clean,” Park told NPR. “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.”
Park’s attorney, Danicole Ramos, told KITV Island News that jumping bail was an aggravated felony in immigration law. Criminal acts warrant deportation, according to the U.S. government’s website and a recent Supreme Court decision.
Park told NPR that he quit drug use while in jail. He moved to Hawaii afterward and raised a family but also got a removal order. He was later allowed to remain if he checked in every year with ICE agents, according to the outlet. (RELATED: Migrant Successfully Fights Off Deportation Case Because Home Country Would Force Him To Shave Beard)
Choosing to voluntarily deport himself after the agents allegedly told him he now had to leave or be detained and deported, he left behind his 85-year-old mother and two adult children.
“Even after everything I went through, I don’t regret joining the military or getting shot,” Park told NPR. “It’s part of my life, my journey. It’s made me who I am today.”
The Daily Caller contacted ICE for more information but did not immediately hear back.
