US citizen in Minnesota says ICE unlawfully detained him, forced him outside in underwear

A Minnesota resident and United States citizen has accused U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents of wrongfully detaining him after entering his home without a warrant, with a DHS official claiming they did have a warrant and were looking for sexual predators connected to the property. 

Chongly “Scott” Thao told The Associated Press that ICE agents recently bashed open his door, pointed guns at him and his family, and then detained him for at least an hour without a warrant.

“I was shaking,” the St. Paul resident was quoted as saying Tuesday. “They didn’t show any warrant; they just broke down the door.”

Thao said he was taken out of his home in handcuffs, wearing only sandals and underwear, with a blanket put over him in subfreezing temperatures. He was driven to a remote location, photographed outside in freezing weather, and then returned home when they realized he was a legal citizen with no criminal record.

The Christian Post reached out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security regarding the incident, with a spokesperson telling CP on Wednesday that “DHS law enforcement officers were executing a warrant" because authorities concluded that “two sexual predator targets had ties to the property” Thao and his family lived in.

DHS provided CP with a press release naming the two predators, Kongmeng Vang and Lue Moua, both of whom were described as criminals from Laos who were living in the United States illegally.

Responding to the incident, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, a Democrat, asserted in a statement shared by AP that "ICE is not doing what they say they’re doing."

“They’re not going after hardened criminals," she said. "They’re going after anyone and everyone in their path. It is unacceptable and un-American.”

According to authorities, Vang is wanted for sexual assault, gang activity and assault and had been given a final order of removal in 2016. Moua is wanted for sexual assault of a minor, rape, kidnapping, and domestic violence, having received a final removal order in 2012.

“These two violent illegal alien sexual offenders are at large in St. Paul,” said DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin in the press release. “We are asking the public to provide any information leading to the arrests of these two heinous sexual predators.”

“These monsters are the exact type of criminal illegal aliens ICE is targeting in Minnesota. If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will find you, we will arrest you, and you will never return.”

Minnesota state and local officials have been at odds with the Trump administration over the federal government’s immigration enforcement operations in the state, which is part of a broader federal directive to enforce immigration law under Executive Order 14161 and Presidential Proclamation 10949. In its immigration crackdown in Minnesota, federal officials have already made more than 10,000 arrests in the state. 

ICE has arrested dozens of individuals with convictions for violent crimes, including several men from Laos who had received final removal orders dating back to the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Earlier this month, during ICE operations in Minneapolis, an agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good during an altercation involving her SUV blocking a street, which exacerbated the political unrest and anti-ICE protests in the city and across the country.

The Trump administration maintains that the ICE agent acted in self-defense, as video appears to show Good driving toward the officer who was standing in front of her vehicle after she was told to exit the SUV. The administration contends that the officer, who was dragged by a car in another incident last year, had a reason to fear Good would run over him. 

Many Democratic elected officials, however, do not believe that the police shooting was justified, and activists are calling for the officer to be prosecuted, saying that Good was trying to drive away from the officers when she was shot.  

Recently, the U.S. Department of Justice issued subpoenas to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, St. Paul Mayor Her, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other state officials as part of an investigation into whether they conspired to obstruct the Trump administration's immigration enforcement.

"When the governor or the mayor threaten our officers, when the mayor suggests that he's encouraging citizens to call 911 when they see ICE officers, that is very close to a federal crime," said U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to Fox News.