They fought California’s wildfires while incarcerated. Now, ICE could deport them

Advocates are calling for the release of two incarcerated firefighters who were on the frontlines of California’s wildfires this year. Upon completing their sentences, both were immediately handed over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

Now, after fighting dozens of fires and completing their sentences, they risk being deported to a country they’ve never known.

In a virtual press conference Thursday hosted by the Asian Prisoner Support Committee, advocates and legislators asked for California Gov. Gavin Newsom to pardon Bounchan Keola and Kao Saelee from ICE custody. Saelee and Keola both face deportation to Laos, where their parents fled as refugees when they were 2 and 4 years old, respectively.

Growing up in under-resourced California neighborhoods where residents sometimes joined gangs for protection, Keola became caught up in gang violence, while Saelee was arrested for participating in an armed robbery after being kicked out by his father. Both were sentenced as teenagers, spending more than half their lives in prison.

“These are people who have done their time, they’ve gone through rehabilitation,” California state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, said during the news conference. “We should be integrating them back into our community and not facilitating the (President Donald) Trump deportation machine.”

Legislators also called for Newsom to stop transferring prisoners to ICE custody, something that California is under no legal obligation to do, but has been doing for years. According to Sarah Lee, an advocate with Asian Americans Advancing Justice’s Asian Law Caucus, 1,625 state prisoners were turned over to ICE after completing their sentences in 2020 alone.

No release after serving time, fighting fires

Keola, 39, had only two weeks left on his 28-year prison sentence when he was crushed by an oak tree while putting out October’s Zogg fire. He was airlifted to a hospital and released the same night. Days later, California prison officials handed him over to ICE.

Fighting wildfires gave Keola a sense of freedom and purpose he had never felt before, he said. He remembers how it felt when community members lined up to give him and his crewmates water and thank them after putting out a fire in their area.

“For the first time in my life, I felt good about myself … almost like a superhero,” Keola said, calling in from an ICE detention center in McFarland. “This is when I told myself, ‘This is what I want to do. I think I finally found what I really want to do.’”

Keola’s sister, Thong, teared up while describing how suddenly the joy of preparing for his return was replaced by fear when they found out two days before his release date that he would be sent to ICE custody instead. She said her parents, who had been looking forward to doing things like watering plants and getting groceries with him, were devastated.

“How can they do this? This is inhumane, to ship someone to a country where he knows no one,” Thong said. “We try our best to be positive and strong for each other, but the truth remains that ICE is trying to deport my brother who just served his time and literally risked his life fighting fires throughout California.”

Saelee, 41, spent 22 years in prison, where he spent his time training stray dogs and fighting wildfires, and was released in August. His sister, Julie Andress, was waiting outside the fence to pick him up — only to be told that morning that her brother wouldn’t be coming home. She didn’t know it at the time, but Saelee was about to be transferred directly from state prison to an ICE detention facility in Louisiana.

“Everyone was so eager to hear the words, ‘Kao is home,’” Andress said. “My family and I are distraught and fearful that he may contract COVID. We’re also concerned, not knowing what the Laos government would do ... It has been very difficult to move forward with our lives.”

Speaking directly to Keola and Saelee, Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, apologized for how they had been treated by state authorities.

“It’s not right, it’s not fair,” Bonta said. “We should be rebuilding communities, not participating in their destruction. This is really a time for introspection, for saying, ‘Who are we?’ and ‘Who do we want to be?’”

“I’m just asking for a second chance to be a firefighter,” Keola said. “That’s what I want to do. I want to be out there saving people’s land, forests, lives ... I want to take care of my folks before they go and I’m just hoping to have that opportunity.”

This story was originally published November 19, 2020 at 1:58 PM.