Professor Jorjani Comments on Immigration Clinic Client's Death
Professor Raha Jorjani commented for the Stockton Record on the death of Buntha Nhep, a former Cambodian freedom fighter whose deportation case had been brought before the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal by the UC Davis School of Law Immigration Law Clinic. Nhep died November 30 as a result of injuries sustained when he accidentally overturned his motorized wheelchair three days earlier.
Nhep had fought against the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia before fleeing to the United States in 1976, ultimately settling in Stockton. According to the Record, Nhep fell into depression and substance abuse following a divorce and spent time in prison, but gave up drugs and became a registered addiction counselor, only to find that immigration officials wanted to deport him because of his drug conviction. Nhep had feared that a forced return to Cambodia would put his life in danger, both from a lack of medical care for his diabetes and from possible attacks at the hands of political enemies.
Professor Jorjani commented on the Immigration Law Clinic's representation of Nhep, most recently to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and noted that Nhep lived even his final days in fear of deportation.
Raha Jorjani is a staff attorney in the Immigration Law Clinic at the UC Davis School of Law with a special interest in advocacy on behalf of detained immigrants.