The Roundup: A Law's Loophole That Loops In ICE

From the Editor

What's up, South End?

Last week, we published an op-ed on Tuan Phan, a local man who's part of a group of immigrants recently deported to "third countries."

Phan was being held in a converted shipping container in Djibouti, awaiting transport to South Sudan.

This week, I spoke with Caedmon Magboo Cahill, director of the Policy Advocacy Department at the ACLU of Washington. She gave me an update on Phan and context on the policies that led to his detainment.

Phan is currently in South Sudan. At this time, it is unclear what will happen next. When an update is available, the Emerald will follow up with more information.

The circumstances of Phan's detainment are concerning. As published in the Emerald, Phan served 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder. After Phan served his time, the Department of Corrections (DOC) turned him over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) before his release.

Keep Washington Working is a law that protects immigrants' privacy and prevents many entities — including Washington State Patrol, all county sheriff's offices, police departments, jails, Department of Corrections, and school resource officers — from coordinating with ICE to detain people.

But there is a loophole in the law that has allowed Washington's DOC to work directly with ICE.

Cahill says this loophole is what led to Phan being turned over to ICE after serving his sentence. This could also lead to more incarcerated people being turned over and detained after serving sentences. Phan was never even released — he went straight from DOC custody to being detained and deported.

According to the ACLU of Washington, the DOC informs ICE of the pending release dates of individuals who have ICE detainers. Once eligible for release, the DOC then holds the individuals for a short period to allow for direct transfers to ICE should ICE seek to detain that individual.

And now, with the Trump administration's recent supreme court victory, immigrants can be deported to "third countries" instead of their home countries. This is why Phan, who's been in the United States since 1991 (when he was 9 years old), was not sent back to his home country, Vietnam. Instead, he is currently being held in South Sudan — a country with a Level 4 travel advisory.

People who serve their time should be freed. Not handed over to ICE to be deported to "third countries" on the other side of the world deemed unsafe for travel by the U.S. Government.

The Roundup Rundown

The TikTok Dilemma: What My 5-Year-Old Taught Me About the Attention Economy

The Emerald's newest contributing columnist, Di Zhang, wrote the first of his columns on media literacy.

In this installment, Di is diving into TikTok. He gives the nuts and bolts on the ongoing legal battle over whether TikTok will remain available in the United States, and, using his own daughter as a case study, he talks about the platform's impact on kids.

You can read Di's full breakdown on TikTok here.

What's the Fourth of July Mean at the Muckleshoot Fireworks Mall? Family, Freedom, and the Right to 'Blow Stuff Up'

I don't know if y'all have been to Muckleshoot on the Fourth of July, but I have. It's mayhem. Booths selling fireworks stretch as far as the eye can see. You can hear the blasts of people lighting firecrackers, artillery shells, cherry bombs — the works. You can smell the gunpowder in the air before getting out of your vehicle, and there is a smoky haze persisting throughout the grounds.

Nate Gowdy and Carrie Schreck went to Muckleshoot this year and took amazing photos of the whole scene. You can read about their experience and check out their photos here.

Mike Davis is the newsletter editor and Voices editor at the South Seattle Emerald. Born and raised in Seattle's South End, Mike is a longtime journalist who's covered everything from arts and culture to sports to politics.