Tony Pham’s story: From refugee to head of ICE – Chesterfield Observer

Meadowbrook High alumnus Tony Pham (left), the newly appointed acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, speaks with Chesterfield Sheriff Karl Leonard during an Aug. 28 visit to the county jail. ASH DANIEL

The single piece of unlined white paper, neatly folded and tucked away in the inside breast pocket of Tony Phams suit jacket, is a testimony to both how far he has come over the past 45 years and what he left behind.

Its a copy of his familys aircraft boarding pass from April 19, 1975, when the 2-year-old Pham, his mother and his two older sisters fled Vietnam with little more than the clothes on their backs just 11 days before the capital of their war-torn country fell under Communist control.

I carry it with me everywhere I go, because no matter how well I do in life, no matter how high I go or how low I go, thats my anchor, Pham says, sitting at a conference table in the Chesterfield County Jail on the morning of Aug. 28, three days before he officially assumed his new role as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

This is what got us on the plane that day and we were blessed and fortunate as a family to have that opportunity. I carry that weight with me, knowing that for that family of four to sit in those seats, we knocked out another family. That drives my vision of doing the best I can because there were folks that gave up a lot for my family to get here, he adds.

Pham, a Meadowbrook High School graduate and friend of Chesterfield Sheriff Karl Leonard, visited the county jail to deliver pizzas to the deputies who run the facility. He spoke to the Observer for nearly an hour about his recent appointment, his personal refugee story and how that experience will guide his leadership of a beleaguered agency, one charged with implementing immigration policies that many advocates say are overly harsh and inhumane, particularly under President Donald Trump.

Pham, an attorney, had served as principal legal adviser to ICE since January. He was named Aug. 25 to succeed the retiring Matt Albence as its top official, responsible for managing a staff of 20,000 and an annual budget of $8 billion.

Less than two months before Election Day, amid nationwide protests over systemic racism and police brutality and a global pandemic that has seen COVID-19 cases surge in many ICE detention centers (including one in nearby Farmville), Pham is now the public face of a Trump administration immigration agenda that has been widely criticized as racist.

Still, when acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf called him last month and offered the job, Pham insists he accepted without hesitation.

The call to leadership has never been convenient, but when the opportunity came up to be that voice of calm and reason and hopefully be able to change [negative perceptions of ICE] simply by being in the seat, how could I say no? he says. My parents didnt raise a coward.

Left behind during the hasty evacuation from Vietnam, Phams father later reunited with his family at a refugee camp at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, where they lived in dormitory-style housing and dreamed of beginning new lives in the United States.

The Phams made their way to Virginia by way of sponsorship from a Presbyterian church in Henrico County, then moved to the Meadowdale area in northeastern Chesterfield in the early 1980s. Pham enrolled at Hopkins Elementary and his sisters at Falling Creek Middle, while their parents sought whatever jobs they could find and struggled to overcome significant language and cultural barriers.

His mother, who had been a teacher in Vietnam, worked at Thalhimers department store and sold tickets at a movie theater. His father, formerly an engineer and military officer, worked as a mechanic during the day and a janitor in the evening.

Anything they could do to keep the family afloat, he recalls.

In 1985, 10 years after they came to the U.S., the Phams were granted American citizenship. Tony graduated from the College of William & Mary in 1995 and added a law degree from the University of Richmond in 1999.

He took a job in the Richmond commonwealths attorneys office and quickly built a record of obtaining convictions in complex homicide, narcotics and firearms cases. In 2006, he was tasked with creating and leading the citys first unit specifically dedicated to prosecuting gang-related offenses. Along the way, he earned the nickname Phammer the Hammer.

His hard-nosed approach gradually softened, though, when he went to work in a correctional facility and learned more about the human condition.

Pham was hired as in-house counsel for the Richmond sheriffs office in 2010, providing legal and operational guidance to newly elected Sheriff C.T. Woody and his staff of 600 full-time employees at the city jail.

I cant say enough good things about Tony, Woody says. Hes a hard worker, hes intelligent and fair and a man of the highest integrity. Hes just an outstanding individual.

Two years after an unsuccessful campaign to become Henricos commonwealths attorney in 2015, Pham took over as superintendent of the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail. He was credited with implementing a series of reforms that improved conditions at the Williamsburg facility, which had faced repeated lawsuits for mistreatment of inmates. He also launched an addiction recovery program modeled after the one Leonard had created at the Chesterfield County Jail.

Hes an extremely compassionate man who is sincere about wanting to help people, Leonard says. He knows the plight of the immigrant first-hand and he sees an opportunity to help make a difference in this country.

He has no time to waste. As a political appointee, Pham knows he could be replaced if Joe Biden wins the Nov. 3 presidential election. Even if President Trump secures a second term, theres no guarantee Pham will retain his leadership position at ICE on a permanent basis.

Because of his background, Pham already faces heightened scrutiny from pro-immigration groups waiting to see if hes able or willing to make any substantive changes at ICE.

OCAAsian Pacific American Advocates, a national civil rights organization dedicated to improving the social, political and economic prospects of Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), has called on Pham to release nonviolent detainees, halt the unlawful deportation of refugees and end family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Representation in our government is important in order to uplift the needs of our community and ensure the well-being of AAPIs through policies and legislation, says Roland Hwang, the groups vice president for public affairs, in a press release. We hope Mr. Pham will remember his refugee roots, and the Vietnamese American immigrant community, to counteract the Trump Administrations anti-immigrant agenda.

If Pham has any loyalty left to refugees, he will begin by announcing the closure of ICEs migrant prison camps, halt all deportations during the pandemic, cease ICE collusion with hate groups and immediately release all of those in immigrant detention. To do otherwise would mean turning his back on refugees and siding with a rogue government agency that has only shown itself to be a menace in our communities, adds Tracy La, executive director of VietRISE, a California-based nonprofit that advocates on behalf of Vietnamese and other immigrant groups, in its official response to Phams appointment.

Without getting into specifics, Pham says hell be rolling out several new policy initiatives over the next few weeks.

I understand when families talk about the horrors of fleeing oppression, he says. Any decision that is made to the application of the rule of law is done with deliberate, thoughtful processes, understanding Do we apply the law in this fashion? Is it fair? Is it just and is it equitable?

ICE, he insists, is not an organization bent on intolerance or racism.

It cant be, not with me at the head, he says, refolding the copy of his familys 1975 boarding pass and putting it back in his pocket. It just cant be with my life story.

The rest is here:

Tony Pham's story: From refugee to head of ICE - Chesterfield Observer