Chanthon Bun, 2021 Yuri Kochiyama Fellow
Chanthon Bun served as ALC’s Yuri Kochiyama Fellow in 2021 and is a formerly incarcerated Cambodian refugee, artist, and advocate. Sentenced to over 40 years in prison when he was 18, Bun became eligible for release after 23 years behind bars. Yet even after he served his time in San Quentin, Bun, who is immunocompromised and had contracted COVID-19 while detained, faced ICE detention and deportation at the height of the pandemic.
Chanthon Bun is a formerly incarcerated Cambodian immigrant artist.
Bun’s story illuminates the trials and tribulations of those caught in the prison-to-ICE deportation pipeline, which disproportionately impacts incarcerated and formerly incarcerated immigrants, refugees, and survivors of gendered violence within the Southeast Asian community. Thanks to advocacy from community members including ALC and the Asian Prisoner Support Committee, Chanthon was ultimately able to secure his release and return home to his family.
After his release, Bun worked with ALC as part of the Yuri Kochiyama Fellowship, a yearlong opportunity for formerly incarcerated Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants and refugees. Launched in 2016, the fellowship builds leadership and advocacy among those directly impacted by the intersection of the criminal justice and immigration enforcement systems. While incarcerated, he studied mechanical trades, facilitated an Asian American studies program, and launched a national newsletter with the Asian Prisoner Support Committee. As a fellow and then community advocate with our Immigrant Rights program, Bun continued the advocacy work he undertook while incarcerated, from campaigning for the VISION Act (AB 937) to illustrating and narrating an educational video on mass incarceration and deportation.