- Hmong refugee Lue Yang, who was detained by immigration officials in July, was released from federal custody Wednesday
- Yang was detained over a decades-old criminal conviction that was expunged. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently pardoned him
- The 47-year-old father of six said he’s ‘just glad to be home with family’
Michigan Hmong refugee Lue Yang, who was detained by immigration authorities in July over a decades-old criminal conviction, was released from federal custody Wednesday.
Yang, a St. Johns resident who serves as president of the nonprofit Hmong Family Association of Lansing, was detained for more than four months and slated for possible deportation based on a decades-old criminal conviction related to an attempted home invasion.
During an emotional reunion with his wife and children in Grand Rapids on Wednesday, the 47-year-old father of six said he’s “just glad to be home with family” and can’t wait to spend time with them after his monthslong detention.
Though Yang’s 1997 conviction had been expunged under Michigan law and is no longer public record, US immigration authorities can still reference those records when considering a person’s legal status.
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In October, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer officially pardoned Yang while he was already in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, calling him a “devoted family man and respected leader in Michigan’s Hmong community.”
Yang was one of several Hmong refugees and Laotians with varying criminal histories who were arrested in Michigan this summer and ordered removed by an immigration judge, according to ICE.
Yang’s Wednesday release came after several state and federal officials intervened on his behalf, including state Rep. Mai Xiong — a Macomb County Democrat who is also a Hmong refugee — and US Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte.
After the governor’s October pardon, immigration officials kept Yang in custody “while the legal ramifications of the state’s pardon on his immigration case are assessed as he is currently still subject to a final order of removal,” an ICE spokesperson said at the time.
Despite his release, Yang’s legal battles aren’t over, Xiong said Wednesday, noting he still needs to work through immigration court to remove his deportation order and resolve outstanding issues with his legal status.
But being out of detention will make it easier for him to do that and ease the burden on his family, she said.
“I think all the officials involved can see that he is going through the legal system and he’s following all the rules and doing the best that he can, so I would hope that they will continue to keep that in mind,” Xiong said.
Yang came to the US legally as an infant with his family after escaping political persecution in Laos following the Vietnam War.
His 1997 conviction has complicated Yang’s immigration status ever since: past attempts to get a green card were rejected, but he’s never been considered a resident of Laos or Thailand, either.
Immigration enforcement has been a key tenet of President Donald Trump’s second term, with the administration ramping up ICE recruitment efforts to boost arrest and detention rates.
The administration has said its focus is to remove the “worst of the worst” such as people with criminal records.
Yang’s family and advocates have said he’d never known a home outside of the US and feared his advocacy for Hmong veterans in the US could result in imprisonment or death if he were deported to Laos.
“Lue is not and never has been an illegal immigrant, and does not present a threat to our community, so I worked tirelessly to see him released from custody,” Barrett, Yang’s US representative, said in a statement.
“I appreciate the willingness of the administration to listen to my concerns about Lue’s case and to reach this outcome,” he continued.
This article first appeared on Bridge Michigan and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
