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7h ago

Purple Heart Veteran Self-Departs After Green Card Revocation

Loss of deferred action status over a decades-old drug conviction forced the Purple Heart recipient to board a flight to South Korea

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Purple Heart veteran Sae Joon Park was forced to self-deport to South Korea after living in the U.S. for 48 years.

Overview

  • Sae Joon Park moved to the United States at age seven and earned a Purple Heart after being wounded in combat during the 1989 Panama conflict.
  • Untreated PTSD led to a 2009 drug conviction, prompting ICE to revoke his green card and grant him deferred action status until this month.
  • ICE revoked his deferred action this month, fitted him with an ankle monitor and gave him a three-week deadline to depart voluntarily.
  • On June 24, Park flew under ICE supervision to South Korea and vowed to return only after President Trump leaves office.
  • He left behind American citizen children and elderly parents who remain in the United States under strict immigration enforcement.