Chul Soo's Story

My name is Chul-Soo Park. I first immigrated to Dallas, Texas and now I live in Virginia.

In 1998, I arrived in the US and have been residing as an undocumented immigrant for the past 23 years. I first came to the US on vacation and after spending some time here, I felt that the US would be a better place to have a business and to receive education. After a few months of staying in the US, my family then came. I started a business related to auto repair work as the auto industry was booming at that time. The church I had attended previously offered to sponsor our permanent residency, but I ended up spending a lot of money and came out without any sponsorship. The church paused the sponsorship progression as my auto repair business started suffering. The terrorist attack on 9/11 caused my business to ultimately fail and making a living became difficult. So our family moved to Virginia and there, I operated a car towing business for more than 10 years.  

I had to sell the business due to the divorce with my ex-wife. My ex-wife returned back to South Korea after the divorce. She left me and my son in the US. After the divorce, I started a business - I sold fish wholesale. I sold a specific fish illegally and was prosecuted after getting caught up in an investigation trap with the federal government. After a trial, I was only put on probation for 3 years; however, since I was undocumented, ICE immediately put me in jail for 10 days. I had to post bail for $7,500, and only after they placed a location monitor on my ankle, was I released. Even after I was released, I was under house arrest in my home for more than a year. 

Currently, I’m waiting for my deportation trial in August. The hardest part of being under house arrest is that I cannot work to support my family. I lived paycheck to paycheck and without an income, I have to fully rely on those around me. From time to time, I would accompany friends to construction sites and earn around $100 for cleaning garbage in the area. The government would not even allow me to do this. In addition, the government denied my request to exercise outside as a diabetes patient. 

My only close family is my one son. And as a father, my heart is heavy and filled with guilt that I cannot support him. As a parent, it’s painful not being able to send my son to college. His mother left when he was in high school and he only has me. Since I am trapped in my home just awaiting for the trial, my heart is filled with frustration as there is nothing I can do for my son.  Even if I get deported back to South Korea, how could I leave him alone in the US? Nothing would make me happier than the Biden Administration passing a bill that would provide all undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship, including myself before my trial in August.  Currently, I am very worried about my trial as I don’t have the funds to hire a lawyer on my behalf.  

My biggest concern is that I would get deported and separated from my son. With my age and health condition, I don’t know how I would be able to work if I get deported to South Korea.  There are so many others just like me. I had hoped my expertise in auto repair would allow for a permanent residency sponsorship but it seems impossible with the current immigration laws. I hope the Biden Administration will take action to change the current immigration laws so that people like me would have a path to citizenship. This is the only way I can stay with my son. If I could live as a US citizen, I would work hard and use my auto repair expertise to start up a business again and achieve the American Dream.