ICE Detains Long-Time Hmong Refugee in Michigan

In the early morning hours of July 15, 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrived at the parking lot of a Michigan automotive plant where Lue Yang had just finished an overnight shift. Two unmarked cars blocked his vehicle, and a man in body armor identified himself as ICE. Yang was escorted to his home in St. Johns, north of Lansing, and then taken into custody for removal to Laos, the country his family fled decades earlier.

New York Times

Yang arrived in the United States as a war refugee from Laos and built a life in Lansing’s Hmong community. As a teenager he served a ten-month jail term after being caught with stolen cash, electronics and cameras, a conviction that stripped him of his permanent-resident status and triggered a removal order. For 23 years the order was not enforced; during that time Yang earned a high-school diploma, married, fathered six children, worked at the auto plant, and became a recognized leader among local Hmong residents. He complied with ICE’s regular check-in requirements and avoided further arrests, according to his attorney Nancy Xiong.

New York Times

The detention occurred amid President Donald Trump’s broader deportation campaign, which intensified ICE activity against individuals with prior criminal convictions, even when those convictions were decades old.

New York Times

Yang’s removal sparked alarm within Lansing’s Hmong population, many of whom view his case as a warning that long-standing community members could be targeted despite decades of law-abiding behavior. Local leaders expressed concern that the renewed enforcement could destabilize families and erode trust in immigration authorities, potentially discouraging cooperation with law-enforcement agencies. The episode highlights the tension between federal immigration priorities and the lived realities of refugee families who have integrated into American society.

New York Times