Since April 1997 when a US law was enacted which deported non-naturalized foreign residents for committing crimes entailing a sentence greater than one year, the number of Koreans being expelled from America after completing their sentences has increased. According to a Buddhist organization “Help Our People Campaign,” as of August last year 150 people had been expelled from the US with a further 100 facing deportation in the near future. The National Police Office said that up to 1997 only four to five people were deported from the US, but afterwards this surged to 30 to 40. Among the expelled were drug pushers, thieves and rapists.

Sources at the NPO said that a substantial number of those expelled were so-called 1.5 generation Koreans who had no ties to Korea and did not speak the language, adding that many drifted into crime and prostitution.

Chun Eun-chang, a missionary who operates a shelter for deportees since May last year said that many had a problem getting work because of the language problem and could not adapt to life in facilities for the homeless.

A 30 year-old man identified as Jang who was adopted by a family in Newcastle Pennsylvania arrived in Kimpo on May 2 following a two-year prison sentence for stealing. His adoptive parents had failed to get him citizenship, prior to him being taken into care when he was 12 years old. He said that he has no relatives in Korea and does not speak Korean.

(Choi Jae-hyok, jhchoi@chosun.com )