A Hmong American mother of five has been deported from Milwaukee to Laos—a nation she has never been to—following a prison sentence tied to a marijuana conviction.
Ma Yang (left).
Ma Yang, 37, is now being held in a rooming house in Laos under military guard, without any identification or legal documents, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She does not speak the language, has no known contacts in the country, and is now struggling to access basic necessities, including her medications for diabetes and high blood pressure. Yang has lived in Milwaukee since she was eight months old.
“The United States sent me back to die. I don’t even know where to go. I don’t even know what to do”, Yang told the Sentinel.
Yang, originally from Thailand, lost her legal permanent residency after pleading guilty to marijuana-related charges and serving more than two years in prison. She says she accepted the plea deal based on incorrect legal advice that it wouldn’t affect her status. Had she known otherwise, she would have chosen a longer sentence to avoid deportation.
“I made a mistake and I know that it was wrong. But I served the time for it already”, says Yang.
After completing her sentence, Yang was placed in ICE custody in Minnesota, where a new attorney advised her to sign a document that effectively sealed her fate—agreeing to leave the U.S. while accepting a deportation order. She had been told Laos rarely accepted deportees, leading her to believe she would not actually be removed. But when ICE summoned her in February, she was detained, transferred across multiple states, and ultimately put on a plane to Laos.
Yang’s removal comes amid the Trump administration’s escalated deportation efforts, with the former president pledging to remove “millions and millions” of undocumented and legal immigrants. Trump recently signed an executive order invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, aiming to speed up deportations. However, a federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order on removals under the act.
Yang’s situation is yet another example of the vast consequences of current cannabis policies.
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