San Tran Croucher¿s earliest memories are of fleeing ethnic attacks in her Vietnamese village, only to be later tortured in Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge. Katya Cengel met San when San was seventy-five years old and living in California, having miraculously survived the Cambodian genocide with her three daughters, Sithy, Sithea, and Jennifer. But San¿s family¿s troubles didn¿t end after their resettlement in California. As a teenager under the Khmer Rouge, San¿s daughter Sithy had been the family¿s savior, the strong one who learned how to steal food to keep them alive. In the United States, Sithy¿s survival skills were best suited for a life of crime, and she was eventually jailed for drug possession. U.S. immigration law enforces deportation of any immigrant or refugee who is found guilty of certain illegal activities, and San has hired a lawyer to fight Sithy¿s deportation case. Only time will tell if they are successful. In Exiled Cengel follows the stories of four Cambodian families, including San¿s, as they confront criminal deportation forty years after their resettlement in the United States. Weaving together these stories into a single narrative, Cengel finds that violence comes in many forms and that trauma is passed down through generations. With no easy answers, Cengel reveals a cycle of violence, followed by safety, and then loss.

List of Illustrations Preface Complete Cast of Characters Introduction Part 1. Year Zero 1. The Diplomat and the Deportee 2. “It Was a Massacre” 3. The Mother 4. The Murderer 5. Sithy and Sithea 6. “It’s Not What You Think” 7. The Wife without a Husband 8. Stealing from the Dead Part 2. Limbo 9. The Father 10. An Education in Silence 11. A Second Chance 12. The Medicine Man 13. Expired 14. “Not Home for the Holidays” 15. Never-Ending Nightmare Part 3. Year of the Monkey 16. Two Cities Tangled Together 17. New Year, Same Past 18. Girlfriends 19. A Party at Oak Park 20. Judgment Day Part 4. Years to Come 21. Blood-Killer 22. The Pastor 23. Friends and Family 24. Exile 25. Left Behind Afterword Acknowledgments Appendix Sources Index