“Death by Deportation”: Repatriating the Mentally Ill to Cambodia

Thousands of mentally ill people residing legally in the United States have been deported after committing crimes as minor as shoplifting. Journalist Katya Cengel reports on Cambodians who fled the country’s killing fields as children and who, after being repatriated, are struggling to make a life for themselves in their unfamiliar homelands. She introduces us to Khe Khoeun, a former refugee now living with relatives in Cambodia, and describes how those with mental health problems are singularly ill-equipped to navigate America’s complicated immigration court system.