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U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an earlier statement, the agency said Kim had been arrested after \u201cit was determined he has a prior felony conviction in Multnomah County for attempt to commit arson in the first degree, among other charges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kim joined the National Guard in 2005 and served in Iraq in 2009 and 2010 before being honorably discharged. He came to the U.S. more than 35 years ago, at age 5, and he became a legal permanent resident in 1981. He does not speak Korean, his friends have said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His immigration troubles stem primarily from two incidents \u2014 a burglary and another case, which his lawyer described as a \u201cdumb prank,\u201d in which he filled a beer bottle with gasoline, lit it on fire and threw it at a concrete outer wall at the back of a hardware store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the first matter, in 2013, he faced deportation. The judge let him go \u2014 but warned him not to get in trouble again, former Staff Sgt. Ryan Kell, who was Kim\u2019s team leader in Iraq, told the Associated Press in July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year, though, he was convicted of attempted arson in a special veterans court following the second incident. He participated in a 4\u00bd-month, inpatient substance abuse treatment program run by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and had been doing well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe admits he had a drug problem and that he committed crimes when he was under the influence \u2014 he\u2019s not proud of it,\u201d Warden-Hertz said. \u201cTo find he\u2019s a danger or a flight risk now doesn\u2019t make any sense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In petitioning for Kim\u2019s release pending deportation proceedings, Warden-Hertz submitted letters from a clinical psychologist who detailed Kim\u2019s success in the substance abuse program as well as from a clinical nurse manager at the Portland VA Health Care System, where Kim began working in January as a housekeeper at a cardiology and oncology unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMr. Kim demonstrated exceptional team work,\u201d the nurse manager, Cynthia Fahy, wrote. \u201cIt was regularly reported to this manager that he often went out of his way to assist other housekeepers and nurses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jason Phebus, 31, of Gresham, Oregon, is an Air Force veteran who began drinking heavily \u2014 and later using harder drugs \u2014 as he had a difficult time transitioning into civilian life. He said Wednesday that he met Chong in the VA\u2019s substance abuse program, and he credited Chong\u2019s friendship and advice with helping him make it to where Phebus is today \u2014 in recovery with a steady job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His response to the notion that Chong might be deported is \u201ca string of explicits,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe was man enough to stand up and serve this country, in combat no less,\u201d Phebus said. \u201cNow he\u2019s not fit to be here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An immigration judge in Washington state declined to release an Iraq War veteran from custody Wednesday while he fights the government\u2019s efforts to deport him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":73343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":69,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,25,69],"tags":[],"coauthors":[645],"class_list":["post-36635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-marine-corps"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"LUM675M7QBFXRGCBV6YQDH7DCE","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2017\/10\/05\/judge-wont-release-iraq-war-veteran-fighting-deportation\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n