ICE Arrest of a Citizen, Barely Dressed, Sows Fear in Twin Cities
Federal agents raided a home in St. Paul, Minnesota, and dragged ChongLy Scott Thao — a naturalized U.S. citizen and Hmong immigrant with no criminal record — out of his house in his underwear and into freezing temperatures, driving him around for nearly an hour before releasing him without charges or an apology. The Department of Homeland Security said the raid was part of an operation targeting two sex offenders who lived at the same address, but Thao's family says agents were shown his identification and ignored it, and local officials including St. Paul's mayor described it as a clear case of mistaken identity driven by racial profiling. The incident has sent shockwaves through St. Paul's large Hmong community — many of whom are refugees or descendants of people who aided the U.S. during the Vietnam War — with residents too frightened to leave their homes, businesses reporting dramatic drops in customers, schools transitioning to remote learning, and local districts delivering food to families sheltering in place. The raid has become a symbol of what critics describe as a brutal and indiscriminate federal immigration enforcement campaign that is terrorizing entire communities regardless of legal status.