Hmong Minnesotan ordered deported to Laos speaks out about arrest: 'It's a tear in my heart'

Chia Neng Vue was napping after a night shift when his 5-year-old son saw officers in armored vests outside the window of the family’s Coon Rapids home.

“Hey buddy,” said one of the officers, when Leon opened the door. “Is your dad home?”

It was a week after Vue’s most recent check-in with the Federal Immigration Court at Fort Snelling. At the time, court officers had told him to check back with them in six months, a temporary reprieve in a climate of escalating immigration enforcement. But when he came to the door, officers from Homeland Security Investigations waved him out to the driveway.

“They just pulled me right out of my front door and arrested me,” Vue, 43, said in an interview from the Freeborn County jail, where he’s being detained.

(snip)

Since the arrival of the first Hmong in Minnesota 50 years ago, Hmong refugees have rarely faced deportation, even those who were convicted and served time for crimes. However, the Trump administration’s campaign to deport millions and tighten immigration enforcement is causing a ripple effect for those with final orders of removal dating back decades. Vue said he and some of the Hmong men detained in Freeborn County refused to sign notices for deportation to Laos.

Most, like Vue, immigrated to the United States as children in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. All have final orders of deportation because they have criminal convictions that are considered a removable offense by the federal government.

At 16, he was charged as an adult and convicted of first-degree criminal sexual misconduct as part of his involvement in gang activity. He pled guilty in 1998 and was sentenced to about a decade in prison. Linda Xiong, Vue’s wife, said he felt constant shame and regret over his criminal history.

(snip)

Vue attended Hennepin Technical College to obtain several degrees, including as a supply chain technician and in mechatronics. He worked full-time as a licensed electrician for years before taking a job as a maintenance technician to support his family. He also started a small business selling plants he grew in the family’s backyard. Vue said he was motivated to turn his life in a positive direction after seeing others become successful. Xiong met Vue in 2018, and they married a year later.

More..

https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/coon-rapids-minnesota-arrest-laos-deportation-hmong/