Sear Un, 41, was born in Cambodia during the reign of the Khmer Rouge, when, from 1975 to 1979, some 2.2 million people—about a third of the country’s population—were killed or starved. Thankfully, when Un was just a baby, his family escaped across the border. He spent his early childhood in refugee camps in Thailand and the Philippines until, in 1984, the family was resettled in the United States. As refugees, they were given “permanent” legal status—but for noncitizens, US residency is always precarious. In 1997, when Un was 20 years old, he was involved in a home burglary. According to court documents, he waited in the car while his friends stole a TV—for which he was paid $125. Still, his conviction was enough to render him deportable.
Before 2017,…
