In the latest fallout of President Donald Trump’s intensified immigration enforcement, 37-year-old Ma Yang, a Hmong mother of five, was deported to Laos—a country she had never set foot in. Yang, who had lived in the United States since infancy, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Milwaukee after being called in months ahead of her regular check-in. Within two weeks, she was deported to Vientiane, Laos, a nation her family had fled four decades earlier amid U.S. military operations and persecution of the Hmong people.
Yang’s story highlights a growing number of Southeast Asian deportations under Trump’s second term, marking a break from previous U.S. policy that rarely enforced removal to countries like Laos and Vietnam. Although Yang was a legal permanent resident for decades, a 2022 marijuana-related conviction rendered her vulnerable under immigration laws. She claimed she was misled by legal counsel and unaware that pleading guilty would jeopardize her status. Her deportation underscores the administration’s aggressive stance—even against long-time residents and refugee communities with deep American roots.
The Hmong, a Southeast Asian ethnic group recruited by the CIA during the U.S.-backed “Secret War,” have historically been treated with compassion in U.S. immigration policy. But Yang’s removal suggests a harsh shift. Her deportation occurred despite her personal history of trauma, poverty, and survival—raising questions about the administration’s disregard for historical context and humanitarian principles. U.S. officials have defended the policy, stating that “criminal aliens” are not welcome, while human rights advocates warn of the dangers faced by deportees in nations with documented abuses.
Now thousands of miles from her home in Milwaukee, Yang is struggling to adapt in a foreign country with no support system, no citizenship, and no fluency in the local language. Her children, all U.S. citizens, are left reeling in her absence, grappling with the sudden loss of their mother. Once hopeful about rebuilding her life, Yang now faces an uncertain future—displaced by policies that critics call not only cruel, but historically blind to the very role the U.S. played in creating her refugee story.
As deportations accelerate under Trump’s second administration, Yang’s case is becoming emblematic of the broader consequences. It sheds light on the personal toll of a sweeping immigration.
