Purple Heart Veteran Wins Pardon After Self-Deporting

Sae Joon Park, a Purple Heart recipient who left the United States last year rather than face detention, has been granted a pardon that could open a path back to the country where he has lived almost his entire life.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul erased Park's convictions for bail jumping and drug possession on Friday, one of six clemency grants she said went to people who "displayed positive changes in their lives and will dedicate themselves to bettering their communities." They had, she said, "earned their second chance through rehabilitation."

"I know there is still work ahead, but today I have hope that I may finally be able to come home," Park 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."

From Panama to an ultimatum

Park came to the United States at seven as a legal permanent resident and enlisted in the Army at 19. He deployed during the 1989 invasion of Panama, where he was shot in the back by Panamanian soldiers. He was flown home, honorably discharged and awarded a Purple Heart.

What followed, he says, was undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use and the convictions that ended in a three-year prison term. He got sober while incarcerated and spent the following decade rebuilding a life in Hawaii.

In June 2025, immigration authorities gave him a choice: leave voluntarily or be detained and deported. He moved to South Korea that month, setting foot in his birth country for the first time in nearly 50 years and leaving behind two adult children and his elderly mother.

What the pardon does

The clemency does not by itself restore Park's right to reenter the United States. It removes the convictions that triggered his removal order, which allows his lawyers to reopen the immigration case. Danicole Ramos, an attorney with the University of Hawaii's refugee and immigration law clinic, called the pardon "a tremendous step forward" and said it gives the family reason to hope the Board of Immigration Appeals will vacate the order.

Park's case reached Congress last year, when Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., pressed the then-secretary of homeland security to review it at a hearing where Park appeared by video. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not comment on the pardon.