This morning, Chansareth Hong, a Cambodian refugee brought to the United States as a baby, was detained by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a check-in at their Warwick offices. Hong entered the building and did not leave until around 1 pm, when he was transferred to the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls. It appears that ICE transferred Hong as a crowd gathered outside the offices to protest his detention and possible deportation. Here’s the video:
Over 150 people rallied outside the ICE offices, calling for Hong’s release. The plan is to assemble outside the Wyatt later today. Shortly after the protest began, organizers announced that a judge has ruled that Chansareth cannot be moved out of Rhode Island, though for how long and under what circumstances remains unclear.
Chansareth arrived in the United States as an infant with his family, one of the first Cambodians to settle in the West End of Providence in 1978. Providence is the only home Chansareth has ever known.
In August 2025, Chansareth Hong became a single father after the passing of his co-parent and mother of his child. In June 2026, amid bi-weekly check-ins with ICE to meet their quota, Chansareth’s father passed away. Given these extraordinary circumstances and the relief he was previously provided, he filed a stay-of-removal that was met with no avail. Today, he is fighting alongside his lawyer for further immigration relief.
His siblings released the following statement:
“We are the siblings of our older brother, Chansareth Hong. We’re all U.S. born citizens, raised here in Providence, Rhode Island, since the early 80s. We are here to speak on his behalf and to share with you his presence in our family and our community, and what this means to us. Since he has lived in the United States, our brother, Chancellor, has been a hardworking, responsible, and compassionate person, a wonderful father to his autistic son.
“He also takes care of our elderly mother in his house. He’s the kind of person who would always try to uplift others in any circumstance. He is the kind of person who would do anything for his family and his friends. He’s a contributing member of our community who respects the law and cares deeply about the people around him. If our brother were to be deported, the hardships that it would cause on our family would be unbearable. As our family’s primary caretaker for my mother and his non-verbal autistic son, his absence would absolutely devastate them and us. Our family would struggle without his presence. He’s an essential part of our daily lives.
“Separating him from us would cause deep psychological and financial stress and pain. Our brother is a good man with a bright future. We humbly ask that you consider his character, the sacrifices he has made, and the devastation his removal will cause our family. Thank you all for your time and consideration and for allowing us to speak.”
Say organizers, this is not just the story of Chansareth Hong, but the story of thousands of people. Most Southeast Asians in Rhode Island have been checking in with immigration every year. Chansareth did his regular email check-in at the end of May and later got an email back that he had to show up in person for the first time in years. He has been compliant for nearly 28 years. He has lived in Providence, Rhode Island for nearly 50 years. His was one of the first ever families to settle in the West End. When he arrived for his in-person check-in in May, he was told that ICE planned to detain him, and they put an ankle bracelet on him.
The plan, say organizers, was for Chansareth to be scared and self-deport, “as many of our community members have done.” The Cambodian and Laotian community in Rhode Island loses folks to deportation “every day,” not just from being kidnapped at their ICE check-ins, but from being forced to wear ankle monitors and being threatened by ICE to self-deport. “So many of our families and friends have self-deported and lost their ability to return to their families,” said organizers.
When the ankle bracelet was put on Chansareth in May, he decided to fight. He got a lawyer. He pleaded his case. He talked to as many people as possible: community members and legislators.
In the last week, ICE has been trying to put the pressure on. Chansareth decided it’s time to go public. He was worried about the community response, but over 2000 people signed the petition of support; the governor’s office was flooded with calls, and over 150 people rallied outside the office on a Wednesday afternoon.
“Today, I stand with Chansareth Hong because I know what it feels like to lose a family member to ICE detention and deportation,” said Suonriaksmay Keo, President of Cambodian Society of Rhode Island. “For more than 40 years, Cambodian Society of Rhode Island (CSRI) has served Rhode Island’s Cambodian community, a community built by refugees who came here seeking safety after surviving genocide. Chansareth’s family was among those first Cambodian families to build a new life here in the West End of Providence. Like my own family, they believed this country would give their children the chance to grow up in safety and dignity.
“Chansareth was just an infant when he arrived here. Rhode Island is the only home he has ever known. As someone who has lived through the pain of deportation, I can tell you that it doesn’t end with one person. It tears through entire families. It leaves children without parents, parents without children, and communities carrying wounds for years.
“No child should have to experience that heartbreak or carry it for decades the way I still do today.
“Chansareth is the sole caregiver for his nonverbal autistic son and the primary provider for his elderly mother. His family needs him here. I call on ICE to release Chansareth Hong. I also call on Governor Daniel McKee, Attorney General Peter Neronha, and every elected official who says that they stand with immigrants and refugee communities to stand with Chansareth now. This is the moment to use your voice. Chansareth belongs here. His son deserves his father. His mother deserves her son. Rhode Island is his home, so let’s keep showing up, and let’s keep fighting, and let’s bring him home.”
“I represent Ward 3 on the Providence City Council,” said Sue Anderbois. “I’m here with my colleague Juan Pichardo with a message from the council. First, to Chan and his family, Providence is your home. Providence is Chan’s home, and we need to bring him home. The council wants you to know that we have your back, and we love you, and we love Chan, and we will do whatever we can to get him home.
“Our message to ICE, and I’m going to look at the officers who are here, I want to appeal to your humanity: I know that you have families. I know that you have people who love you. I’m appealing to your humanity today. Please return our neighbor. Please return our friend. Chan is an important part of our community. He is a father. He just lost his own father and is helping his elderly mother. He has an autistic son, and he lost his wife.
“He’s the primary caregiver to his autistic son. We need him in our community. Taking him does not make us safer. It makes our community less secure. We’re here to say, please return him. Please bring him back. And to all of you, Providence stands with you. We have your back and we will fight like heck alongside you and stand up beside you to bring Chan home.”
“I’m here to stand with our communities and the Cambodian Society of Rhode Island,” said Juan Pichardo, Ward 9 Providence City Councilmember. “We must stand up every day with our immigrant community, with our children who have grown up in our neighborhoods, in our city of Providence and throughout the state, day in and day out, because ICE is not discriminating against anyone.
“No immigrant is safe with ICE. All of us in the City of Providence, a very diverse community, stand with our immigrant neighbors. We don’t want ICE on our roads. We stand with you. We want to make sure that ICE, the clerks, and the administrator hear us very loud and clear: We want Chan back.
“Today is Chan. Tomorrow is Miguel. Tomorrow is Maria. So we all have to stand up.”
“To the Hong family, our Rhode Island community stands with you. And we’re gonna stand with you until we bring Chan home,” said State Representative David Morales. “Because what we are seeing is another reckless case of injustice, where ICE is needlessly separating families, terrorizing our community, and keeping away a caregiver and a provider that does so much to support not only his mother, but his child. There is no remorse from this fascist agency; that’s why, now more than ever, it’s important that as neighbors, we stick with each other. It makes a difference that we are out here while Chan is detained. We made some noise, and we’re going to continue making noise so Chan knows that he is not forgotten, that he is loved, and that we’re going to stick with him and his family every step of the way.
“To Chan we say, ‘We see you, we love you, you are not forgotten.’ And depending on what happens tonight, whether he is finally released or whether they send him to the Wyatt, we will be ready as a community to support Chan until he is safely home.”
“I’m an organizer with AMOR,” said Sophia de los Reyes. “AMOR has been organizing since 2017 to support our impacted immigrant community members and build up a network of resistance. We are with the Hong family today to demand compassion and fairness towards a loved family and community member. We’re here because of our fundamental belief that children deserve to grow up with their parents and that families belong together. Deportation would not only discredit his commitment to being accountable to the law, but also the decades he has spent attending ICE check-ins on a monthly and sometimes weekly basis. Deportation would separate a son who has already lost his mother from his father.
“It would separate an elderly mother from her son and caregiver. People aren’t singular. We know that ICE arrests always affect the entire community around them, whether that be their children, spouses, parents, colleagues, or friends. Chansareth’s role in this family and community is irreplaceable.
“Rhode Island is Chansareth’s only home. After decades of living with his family and complying with ICE check-ins, there is no plausible argument for ICE to hold Chansareth in a prison cell while he continues to follow the legal process. Chansareth Hong’s story is not an isolated event. We know that unjust and unduly harsh immigration policies threaten thousands of people’s families and lives in the U.S. We have watched as ICE has expanded its use of detention as a form of torture to pressure immigrants to leave their families and homes to escape the pain. We know that ICE is making detention as miserable as possible to force people to make an impossible choice.
“Thousands of people like Chansareth and the hundreds of people who have passed through the Wyatt have been forced into these extreme conditions. The administration, ICE, and policies that ignore U.S. intervention and occupation in Southeast Asia have caused the displacement of Southeast Asians, and they treat civil immigration cases as criminal. They fabricate a narrative that criminalizes entire populations by stripping away protected status and leaving thousands of people vulnerable to deportation, as we have recently seen with Haitians and Syrians.
“We won’t let them convince us that any immigrant or person, including Chansareth Hong, does not deserve the successful, thriving, peaceful communal life they’ve built. The irony is they accuse us of being dangerous criminals, while the systems they design are responsible for atrocities and violence every day. Meanwhile, this community has been organizing and fighting to protect our Southeast Asian friends, family, and neighbors since they first settled here in Rhode Island as refugees. We are strengthened by those who have come before us, and we are joined today by community members, organizations, legislators, faith leaders, and lawyers. Together we imagine a system with accessible, clear pathways to citizenship, a commitment to humane immigration practices, and protected civil rights for all.
“We envision an immigration system that does not turn away asylum seekers, use intimidation, or rely on aggressively punitive tactics. We demand that ICE recognize individual growth, the right and necessity for family stability, and accept the legal routes available in Chansareth’s case that do not result in detention or deportation. We demand that Governor McKee, Attorney General Neronha, and the workers in this office exercise their discretion to keep this family together.
“We have seen too many community members arbitrarily removed from their homes due to the whims of the political moment, but you have a choice today. Don’t let the political climate define the fate of this family. Keep Chansareth at home now!”
This is truly sick! I feel so badly that RI residents and a long standing Providence family are being treated this way. So wrong!!
Thanks for sharing this real time story of another injustice at the hands of ICE and our corrupt government. Thanks, too, for all the Rhode Islander’s who bravely showed up in support of Chan and his family. Add me to your list.