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Quyen Mai and Dat Vu, along with Cambodian American Saman Pho, entered the U.S. as refugees many years ago, but faced federal removal orders from the country for their adult criminal convictions. The pardons issued on Friday are the latest in a series of similar action taken by the governor as the Donald Trump administration ramps up efforts to deport those with criminal records, particularly to Southeast Asian nations. Mai, 36, came to the U.S. when he was 11. He was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison as an accessory to a crime involving a shootout. He is now executive director of the Vietnamese Voluntary Foundation, has won several public service awards and started the first Vietnamese American youth-run radio talk show, the pardon said. Vu was convicted in 2000 of assaulting three men in two incidents and threatening a witness. He entered the U.S. when he was nine as a refugee from Vietnam and now is married to a U.S. citizen and has two young children. Their criminal … [Read more...] about California governor pardons two Vietnamese Americans facing deportation

Quoc Nguyen, 37, who entered the U.S. as a refugee when he was at 10 but faced federal removal orders for his adult criminal convictions, was among seven people pardoned last week by Governor Gavin Newsom. Nguyen had been sentenced to seven years in prison for a 2004 assault with a deadly weapon and completed his sentence in 2012, according to the pardon.  His criminal record had put him at risk of possible deportation in a crackdown by the U.S. government that is seeking to deport immigrants with criminal records who have green cards, but never became naturalized U.S. citizens, even if they’d already served their sentences. Nguyen spent a year and a half in prison and nearly three more years on parole. He has since "demonstrated that he is living an upright life," the governor’s office wrote. He has a stable job that allows him to support his elderly mother and his girlfriend, who is completing a nursing course, a spokeswoman from Newsom’s office told … [Read more...] about California governor pardons Vietnamese American man at risk of deportation

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump faces more potentially damning testimony in the Ukraine scandal as a critical week of public impeachment hearings opens on Tuesday in the House of Representatives. Trump's suggestion that he might himself testify in the investigation which threatens his presidency had no impact on the House Intelligence Committee's plans to interview nine witnesses this week. Most significantly, they include Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, who allegedly transmitted to the Ukraine government Trump's demands for help in finding dirt on his Democratic rivals ahead of next year's presidential election. The hearings also include diplomats who have already testified privately that Trump and Sondland repeatedly pushed Kiev to open investigations into Democrat Joe Biden – Trump's potential 2020 reelection challenger – and withheld nearly US$400 million in aid and a White House meeting requested by Ukraine President Volodymyr … [Read more...] about Trump under pressure in 2nd week of impeachment hearings

US President Donald Trump met with Fabiana Rosales, wife of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, and demanded Russia end support for president Nicolas Maduro. (AFP/SAUL LOEB) Russia's deployment of troops and equipment to bolster Maduro has ratcheted up already high international tension in Venezuela where the Trump administration is pushing hard for regime change amid mounting chaos in the once rich country. "Russia has to get out," Trump said at the White House alongside Fabiana Rosales, wife of opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has been recognised by the United States and more than 50 other countries as Venezuela's interim president in place of Maduro. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed Trump's demand, asking in return why US troops were still in parts of Syria, where the Assad regime relies heavily on Russia support. "He said the United States would withdraw from Syria a month ago," she was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. "Before … [Read more...] about Trump tells Russia ‘to get out’ of Venezuela

The United States is seeking to send thousands of immigrants from Vietnam back to the country despite a bilateral agreement that should protect most from deportation, according to Washington’s former ambassador to Hanoi. A “small number” of people protected by the agreement have already been sent back, the former ambassador, Ted Osius, told Reuters in an interview. Osius said that many of the targeted immigrants have come to the United States after the end of the Vietnam War. Osius said the push by the Trump administration started in April last year and contributed to his resignation in October. A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesman, Brendan Raedy, said that as of December last year, there were 8,600 Vietnamese nationals in the United States subject to deportation and “7,821 have criminal convictions.” The Trump administration has labeled Vietnam and eight other countries “recalcitrant” for their unwillingness to accept … [Read more...] about US seeks to deport thousands of Vietnamese protected by treaty: former ambassador