With wildfires raging, CA turned another incarcerated firefighter over to ICE. We must end the prison-to-deportation pipeline.

By Wendy Carrillo and Phi Pham

Earlier this summer, as devastating wildfires were about to erupt across California, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents approached the firehouse at Folsom State Prison.

But they weren’t there to help fight the terrifying blazes that have now burned 1.3 million acres this year and counting.

Instead, they had come to detain Phi Pham, a Vietnamese refugee and incarcerated firefighter who had earned release from state prison.

If not for where he was born, Phi would have been free that day. He would have reunited with his family in Hayward, California, and pursued his dream of becoming a professional firefighter.

Instead, under a cruel state policy, prison officials transferred Phi to ICE. Even as California’s wildfires grow with terrifying speed, he now languishes in an ICE detention center in Colorado.

As a state legislator and an immigrant myself, I am angered by the double-punishment that Phi — and so many other immigrants who served their time, including other firefighters — have been subjected to.

Working with a broad coalition of organizations across the state, I’m proud to author the VISION Act (AB 937), which would protect refugees and immigrants from being funneled into ICE detention when they earn release from jails and prisons.

With a crucial Senate hearing, Thursday, August 26, I am hopeful that my colleagues in the Senate, and soon after, Governor Newsom, will champion this bill.

As legislators gather in Sacramento, Phi will remain locked in ICE detention a thousand miles away from his family and community. While he can’t join next week’s hearing, I want to share a message Phi sent me from detention:

“If the VISION Act was the law back in June, I would be working right now to become a professional firefighter to protect our state.

I came to the U.S. when I was only four months old. My parents were refugees from Vietnam who survived the war, and I was born in a refugee camp in the Philippines. Growing up in Hayward, my family never had much. My parents struggled, and I was bullied at school. Fearing for my safety, I joined a gang for protection.

Ten years ago, when I was 20 years old, I made the biggest mistake in my life and shot a man during an argument at an In-and-Out. What I did was wrong. During my time in prison, I worked hard to change my life and to make amends for the harm I caused. When I became a firefighter, I was proud to protect people and give back to the community. After a decade focusing on my rehabilitation, I earned release through the rigorous board of parole hearing process

But now that I’ve been turned over to ICE and ordered deported, I don’t know what will happen. I am afraid I will be deported to a country I have never stepped foot in and become homeless.”

Phi’s story underscores that when we use our state and local resources to transfer people who’ve earned release to ICE, we ignore their hard fought rehabilitation and their contributions to our communities.

Phi is one of a growing number of currently and formerly incarcerated community members who’ve lived the pain of ICE transfers and are calling for change. He joins domestic violence survivors like Gabby Solano and Liyah Birru, community leaders like Joe Mejia and Carlos Muñoz, and formerly incarcerated firefighters Kao Saelee, Bounchan Keola and Leonel.

These brave voices are the anchoring force for a statewide coalition that’s 180 organizations strong. They’ve won the support of local governments, legislative caucuses and labor unions. And they have transformed public opinion, with a new poll conducted by UC San Diego showing two thirds of California voters support the VISION Act.

Phi should be home right now, preparing to fight the monstrous fires threatening our state. Governor Newsom has a powerful opportunity to right this wrong by issuing a pardon for Phi — and signing the VISION Act when it reaches his desk.

Wendy Carrillo is a member of the California State Assembly and lead author of the Vision Act, AB 937. Phi Pham is an incarcerated firefighter now in ICE custody with a pending deportation proceeding.