A local nonprofit organization is releasing a documentary about a former participant in its programs who went on to become a community leader in his own right. “Sithy Bin: Life After Prison” tells the story of a local man as he turns his life around and struggles with his immigration status post-incarceration.
“I would hope, if not already, we become more open minded to those who are incarcerated, and believe in second chances, and that someone, if they put in the work, can definitely become a productive member in society,” said Raven Nolasco, Dream Live Hope Foundation’s director of marketing & communications, who did most of the filming and editing for the documentary.
Sithy Bin served 15 years in prison for committing a gang-related shooting that injured a bystander. While incarcerated, Bin worked to rehabilitate himself and went on to become a peer mentor and ordained minister.
Because he was born in a Thai refugee camp to Cambodian parents and brought to the U.S. as a toddler, he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement immediately after being granted parole. He was later released from ICE custody in 2020 after a class action lawsuit over the potential spread of COVID-19 within the detention facility, but was still at risk of being deported…