Sae Joon Park, a Purple Heart recipient who self-deported last year, has been granted a pardon that could help him seek a return to the United States where he has lived most of his life.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul erased Park’s convictions for bail jumping and drug possession Friday, one of six clemency grants she said were given to people who “displayed positive changes in their lives and will dedicate themselves to bettering their communities.” Hochul added that they “earned their second chance through rehabilitation.”
Park said the pardon has given him renewed hope. “I know there is still work ahead, but today I have hope that I may finally be able to come home,” he said. “I want to thank my legal team, everyone who advocated for me, and the thousands of people who have supported me and my family. I will never forget what you have done for me.”
Park drew national attention after immigration authorities in June 2025 gave him an ultimatum: leave voluntarily or face detention and deportation. He moved to South Korea that month, the first time he had been in his birth country in nearly 50 years, leaving behind two adult children and his elderly mother.
A legal permanent resident, Park came to the U.S. at age 7 and joined the U.S. Army at 19. He was deployed during the 1989 invasion of Panama, Operation Just Cause, where he was shot in the back by Panamanian soldiers. He was flown home, honorably discharged and awarded a Purple Heart.
In the years after his service he says he struggled with undiagnosed PTSD, which led to substance use and criminal convictions. Park served three years in prison, got sober while incarcerated, and spent the following decade rebuilding his life in Hawaii.
His pardon does not automatically restore a right to reenter the United States, but it removes the criminal convictions that triggered his removal order and allows his legal team to reopen his immigration case. Danicole Ramos, an attorney with the University of Hawaii’s refugee and immigration law clinic who represents Park, said the pardon “represents a tremendous step forward” and gives Park and his family renewed hope that the Board of Immigration Appeals might vacate the removal order.
Park’s situation was raised during a congressional hearing where Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., pressed then-former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to look into his case. Park appeared at the hearing by video.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately comment.