South St. Paul woman's husband faces deportation to Laos over 1990s felony conviction

MN man to be deported to Laos over 1990s crimes

A Minnesota man is being deported to Laos for crimes he committed in the 1990s. The man has never been to Laos and doesn't speak the language. 

SOUTH ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A South St. Paul woman is facing uncertainty as she prepares for her husband’s imminent deportation over a decades-old criminal record.

Family braces for deportation, faces uncertainty

What we know:

Zong Yang is set to be deported to Laos within the next week. He was detained by ICE agents in early February during the final days of Operation Metro Surge.

"He’s never seen Laos. He’s never been to Laos," said his wife, Linda Yang. "He doesn’t even know the language, the culture or anything at all."

The backstory:

Yang, 48, was born in a Hmong refugee camp in Thailand and legally immigrated to the United States as a child in the early 1980s. A mistake in the late 1990s – breaking into a store with friends in Wisconsin – left him with a felony record.

"Him and his group of friends, young and dumb, just decided to break into a store," his wife recalled.

On Feb. 5, federal agents took him from their home and sent him to a detention camp in Texas, which his wife said he described as "a horrible place. Everything was dirty. It was an old military camp. They had makeshift walls. There was one bathroom."

As deportation nears, a family prepares for life apart

Local perspective:

Yang said it is unclear whether her husband will be able to find work in Laos.

"Before he was taken, he was a freight operator overnight," she said. "I don’t even know if that’s something Laos people do, and if they would even take him."

The family, which includes five children, is now down to a single income, which is causing a financial strain.

His wife, who was born in Wisconsin, plans to stay in Minnesota with their children. She hopes to visit her husband once he gets settled in Laos.

Department of Homeland Security Response 

The other side:

The Department of Homeland Security shared the following statement:

"On February 5, 2026, ICE arrested Zong Yang, a criminal illegal alien from Laos. His criminal history includes convictions for cocaine, marijuana, and meth possession, burglary, and larceny.

"Yang was released into our country in April 1980, by the Carter administration, in San Francisco, California. He was given a final order of removal by a Justice Department immigration judge May 10, 2002. In violation of our laws, Yang refused to leave the United States in violation of our nation's laws. This criminal alien will remain in ICE custody pending his removal from the United States."

"Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States."