Vietnamese father, an Orange County resident, held for more than a month after being detained by ICE
GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (KABC) -- After her husband was unexpectedly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement during a routine check-in, a Fountain Valley woman became a single mother overnight and worries the father of her toddler may be removed from the U.S.
Eyewitness News met Khanhi at the VietRISE office. Khanhi only wanted to share her first name and didn't want to disclose her husband's identity. She feared it may affect his immigration case.
Khanhi shared a recording of her daughter, Evelyn, watching her father, or Dada, sing to her in a video chat. Mom said to fall asleep, their one-year-old needs to see him, hear his voice, be in his arms-but these days, that's not possible.
"They take naps together and that's probably the one thing that she's really missed out on," Khanhi said.
That's because Dad was in detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in Adelanto.
Khanhi said she and her husband were both brought to the U.S. as children from war-torn Vietnam.
"I think my husband was five. I was just a year old-by moms who bravely jumped on a boat in the middle of the night and came to a completely foreign land," Khanhi said.
Khanhi was able to become a U.S. citizen, but her husband was under something called an order of supervision. He had a work permit and Khanhi said for more than a decade, her husband went to quick annual check-ins at this ICE office in Santa Ana.
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He's not alone.
According to Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, many who fled Vietnam are under this order. Joseph Navales with AAAJ explained it often started with children who came to a foreign country, struggling with one or no parent, possibly making mistakes as young adults and falling into a legal and immigration system they didn't understand. Navales said some even pleaded guilty without even committing the crime.
"What ends up happening is they want to get out of detention and they unfortunately sign a removal order or voluntary departure order, but because of this agreement with Vietnam they were never actually removed from the country," Navales said.
There was no process in place to deport Vietnamese immigrants. Decades passed, adolescents grew up, working and starting families.
Khanhi described her husband a very involved father. With she and her husband having grown up without their biological fathers in their lives, the parents came to an agreement when they were family-building-Mom, who is a social worker, would keep going to work.
"He very much said, 'I want to be a girl dad. I want to be part of Evelyn's-every part of her life. So we made the decision that I would continue to work full-time during the day. He's been her primary parent since she was born-doing all the diaper changes. He's been to every single doctor's appointment, every immunization, every shot, every cry, every nap, every meal. So he takes care of her during the day and then works at night and on weekends to help us financially. So he does it all. He's everything for us," Khanhi said.
In 2008, a Memorandum of Understanding between Vietnam and the U.S. allowed for the deportation of some Vietnamese immigrants, protecting most who arrived before 1995, but in 2020, another MOU removed that protection.
The AAJC office in OC seeing nearly two dozen ICE detention cases in the last month at check-ins in this office. Navales said there were none in the previous year.
Eyewitness News reached out to ICE to ask why detentions of these individuals are suddenly ramping up, a spokesperson asking us to forward our questions to DHS, but we have not heard back.
In the meantime, fear grows in Little Saigon which is home to the largest Vietnamese community outside of Vietnam. VietRISE works closely in these neighborhoods.
The nonprofit's Operations and Programs Manager, Indigo Vu, said they've received more calls in the last two months about these detentions than they normally would in half-a-year.
"There is a lot of very intense anxiety and panic and worry within the community right now," Vu said.
Khanhi sought help from the nonprofit when she unexpectedly became a single mother overnight. Her husband not returning to their home in Fountain Valley from his ICE check-in this past February.
Khanhi remembered getting the call from her husband in Adelanto.
"Then I drove home and cried my whole way home and picked up our daughter and came home to an empty house. That was the worst day of our life," Khanhi said in tears.
Khanhi's income now supports her household, mother and mother-in-law.
More than a month after he was detained, no word on whether or when the 49-year-old, would be released.
"I was naïve to think that there was going to be some sort of due process that I can go in front of a judge and share my story and explain why my husband deserves to be a free man, but that's just not available to us," Khanhi said.
Khanhi said she was able to bring their daughter to one visit in Adelanto, but that proved challenging. She said because physical contact is not allowed, their toddler could run to her father and he couldn't hold her. Khanhi said because she's too young to understand, Evelyn threw a tantrum and they were asked to leave.
