ChongLy Scott Thao was paraded out of his home on St. Paul’s East Side Sunday afternoon into the frigid cold wearing only a pair of blue shorts and Crocs, a baby blanket draped over his shoulders, his hands cuffed behind him, flanked by federal immigration officers who ignored his request to change into warmer clothes.
The agents had broken through his front door moments earlier with guns drawn as his grandson slept nearby, said Thao, a 56-year-old U.S. citizen. They arrested him without a warrant because he matched the description of one of their targets, and drove him around for an hour before dropping him off at home without an apology, Thao told Sahan Journal.
“I was scared, so I didn’t know what was going on,” he said Monday. “I thought maybe they got the wrong person, and then they just told me to come out there and handcuffed me.”
Photos and video of Thao, who has no criminal history, standing barechested in 10–degree temperatures have exploded on Facebook, another example of how a surge in federal immigration action has resulted in unchecked racial profiling.
A day later, Thao and his family remain rattled by what happened, vacillating between anger and fear. Thao wants people who saw his image plastered across the internet — comedian Kathy Griffin shared a picture of his arrest on her Facebook page alongside a message about abolishing ICE — to know their rights so they can protect themselves. The wood frame for his front door was still damaged Monday, the door unable to fully close.
“That’s a good thing that they put out everything on Facebook so everybody in the whole world can see what happened to me, so they’re prepared for what they need to show them [federal agents] or give to them,“ he said.
‘We couldn’t sleep at all’
Thao has lived in the home with his son, Chris Thao; his son’s wife, Malai Hang; and their four-year-old son for two years. A crib in a corner of the living room was filled with toys Monday as Thao’s grandson slept in the other room. The family’s brown bulldog sat near Chris’ feet. Thao works down the street at the Dollar Tree store.
“He [Thao] is very mild mannered. He is very laid back, very sweet. He just couldn’t hurt a fly,” said Louansee Moua, Thao’s sister-in-law.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin issued a written statement to Sahan Journal confirming that Thao is a U.S. citizen, and was not the intended target Sunday. He matched the description of two men with criminal convictions who had final orders of removal from an immigration judge, she said.
McLaughlin’s statement also said Thao refused to be facially ID’d or fingerprinted, and that the two men targeted in the operation lived with him in the house. Thao told Sahan Journal he didn’t know the two men.
The incident began around 1:30 p.m. Sunday when Hang, whose husband was at work, heard someone knock on the front door. She said she was scared, and ran into Thao’s bedroom. He told her to not answer the door. Federal officers began yelling through the door asking them to show their ID, they told Sahan Journal, but they refused to respond.
They didn’t know what to do, or how to get help, Thao said. Hang said the officers broke in without announcing themselves as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Suddenly, several federal agents broke through the front door and pointed guns at them, Thao said. His grandson was sleeping on the living room sofa nearby and woke up, bursting into tears.
Federal officers searched the house without showing a warrant, Thao and Hang said. The officers never said who they were looking for, and never said Thao’s name. Thao said that as soon as he left his bedroom, the agents turned him around and handcuffed him.
“They were asking me why I didn’t open the door. I told them there’s too many of you guys and I’m scared,’” he said, adding that the officers wore military-style clothing and face masks.
At least eight federal agents were inside the house and about seven others were outside, he added. Video of the scene recorded by neighbors showed several federal agents standing in the street and yard.
Thao asked the federal officers if he could put on some clothes, but “they just don’t care,” and ignored him, Thao told Sahan Journal.
Chris Thao left work immediately after receiving a call from his wife about his father’s arrest. By the time he got home, his father was gone.
“It was so unreal,” Chris said. “It happened so fast.”
Chris said the experience traumatized his son.
“We couldn’t sleep at all,” he said. “We’re still shaken up.”
Thao’s mother treated wounded soldiers during war
Thao’s adoptive mother, Choua Thao, is well-known as the first trained Hmong nurse; she helped American doctors and hospital staff during the United States’ Secret War, a CIA-back military operation to prevent the spread of communism during the Vietnam War. By her early twenties, she was appointed as a hospital administrator, managing 360 medics and staff. The Sam Thong hospital in Laos where she worked treated over 500 patients a day, mostly injured soldiers, according to the Hmong Nurses Association.
Thao’s family immigrated to the United States as refugees in 1976 when he was four.
Choua spoke multiple languages and worked several years as a nurse aide in the early years of life in the United States. She was a pivotal leader in California and Minnesota working as a social worker and supporting newly arrived refugees, according to the nurses association.
St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her said her mother-in-law was friends with Thao’s mother in Laos, and that they knew each other for decades, according to the Star Tribune.
“This incident is important to me personally, but that’s not why it matters,” Her wrote in a post on her mayoral Facebook page, adding that every single “raid” involves someone important.
“ICE is not doing what they say they’re doing,” read her post. “They’re not going after hardened criminals. They’re going after anyone and everyone in their path. It is unacceptable and un-American.”
Thao said he was born prematurely, and was adopted by Choua after she helped deliver him and his twin sister. His sister later died due to medical complications. He described his mother, who recently passed away, as smart and a good person.
“My sister texted me, saying that my mom would’ve wanted me to go against ICE right now,” he said. “That’s what I think my mom would think right now.”
Thao, a divorced father of two, has six siblings distributed between Minnesota and other states.
Thao was detained in a car for an hour
Thao said the federal agents drove him around for about an hour, asking him where he was born and whether or not he had a visa. At one point, they parked on the side of the road at a location he couldn’t identify and took his photo. They also took his fingerprints, but couldn’t find any information about him in what looked like a federal database they accessed on their laptops, according to Thao.
Thao said he told the officers that his information didn’t pop up because he became a naturalized U.S. citizen about 20 years ago. Federal agents showed Thao photos of two men and asked for their address and whether he knew them. Thao said he didn’t know anything about them.
“I just hoped that they wouldn’t send me back to Laos. I just wanted to be brought back home safe,” Thao said. “No relatives are over there. Everybody is over here now.”
Thao said none of the agents told him where they were going while he was detained in the car. Back home, Chris frantically called family members to explain what had happened.
When Thao returned home, Chris felt relief that his father was safe, and anger that he had been taken when he had done nothing wrong.
Moua, Thao’s sister-in-law, is in contact with Minnesota’s congressional offices, the state attorney general’s office and the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota to look into filing a lawsuit against the federal government.
“We just want them to leave us alone – that’s it,” Chris said. “I don’t want anybody to go through what we went through.”
