True, most Hmong don't look White

[theking]

...so getting targeted by hateful White folks is a given..

Who Are the Hmong? The History of Another Major Ethnic Group Being Targeted in Minnesota ICE Raids
The Twin Cities are home to the largest urban Hmong community in the United States
Along with the Somali population of Minneapolis, Hmong citizens have also found themselves targeted by ICE agents in recent weeks
The Twin Cities in Minnesota are home to the most concentrated Hmong population in the United States
Many Hmong came to the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s, with an expedited path to citizenship after fighting for the U.S. during the Vietnam War

While President Donald Trump and his administration have been particularly vocal about targeting the Somali population with the federal immigration operation in Minnesota, ICE raids have impacted other ethnic groups with notable populations in Minneapolis and St. Paul, including the Hmong.

The Twin Cities share the largest urban Hmong community in the United States, and recent actions by federal agents — plus the election of a new Hmong American mayor in St. Paul — have put a spotlight on the Asian group.

Video went viral on Jan. 19 of ICE agents dragging a shirtless man, identified as 56-year-old Chongly "Scott" Thao, out into the freezing temperatures to detain him. The man, who is Hmong, said he was driven to the "middle of nowhere" before ICE finally reviewed his legal identification and brought him home.

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement at the time that ICE was conducting a targeted operation of two convicted sex offenders.

"The U.S. citizen lives with these two convicted sex offenders at the site of the operation," McLaughlin claimed. "The individual refused to be fingerprinted or facially ID'd. He matched the description of the targets. As with any law enforcement agency, it is standard protocol to hold all individuals in a house of an operation for safety of the public and law enforcement."

One of the men ICE was reportedly looking for, 52-year-old Lue Moua, was later located at Minnesota Corrections Facility-Faribault, where he has been serving time since September 2024.

Of his shocking mistaken detainment, Thao later said, "I was hoping God would save me. They didn't say anything. No sorry, anything."

Days prior, newly elected St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her testified in an immigration hearing, in which she said St. Paul residents have reported ICE agents targeting Asian, and specifically Hmong, residents.

"We've received reports of federal law enforcement officers going door-to-door asking people where the Asian people live right in our very own city," Her, 52, said. "I myself have received advice to carry my passport with me because they may try to target me based on what I look like as well."

The St. Paul mayor was born in Laos and is the first woman, Asian American and Hmong American to serve in the role. Her first year as mayor has been a trial by fire, as she fights to protect members of her own community from being targeted by ICE.

“Saint Paul has been under siege by ICE starting back in June already," Her recently told The Guardian. "We’re home to one of the largest Hmong communities in the country, but when the ICE raids started, they flew under the radar. They’ve only come to light recently since the shooting of Renee Good, and it’s escalated since."

Who are the Hmong?
The Hmong people are an ethnic group from East and Southeast Asia. They are one of four modern groups that are classified as Miao in China, with the others being the Hmao, the Hmu, and the Xong.

Despite being grouped together under the Miao umbrella, the four groups have little in common today, and their languages are different enough as to be unintelligible between groups.

Today, the Hmong people live mostly in Southwestern China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar. Diaspora communities also exist in the United States, Australia, France, and South America, with large groups of Hmong leaving Asia in the 1970s following the Vietnam War and Laotian Civil War, and another wave following after the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980.

Many Hmong at that time were granted special immigration status, having fought for the U.S. in the "Secret War" in Laos. In a Jan. 21 thread on X about the importance of the Hmong American community, Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse wrote, "Our U.S. military attaché in Laos Gen. **** Trefry said after the war that were it not for the Hmong troops operating in Northern Laos, 'there’d be a thousand more names on the Vietnam Memorial.' "

An estimated 30,000 to 40,000 Hmong soldiers lost their lives in the war and, after the U.S. withdrew, became targets for retaliation by the remaining communist forces. Thousands made the treacherous and often deadly decision to escape to Thailand and, from there, resettled in other countries.

"Grateful officials who had served with them worked to expedite their passage from the camps to the U.S.," Whitehouse wrote. "Rhode Island and Minnesota were the two of the most welcoming states to Hmong refugees, and I’m proud to represent my Hmong constituents.. . ICE should learn a little history."

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Notable Hmong celebrities include former Disney Channel actress Brenda Song and U.S. Olympic gymnast Sunisa Lee, who grew up in St. Paul and became the first-ever Hmong American Olympian in 2020.

Google reported a spike in trending searches for "Hmong" during Lee's Olympic run in 2021, in which she won the all-around gold medal. She also made the gold medal-winning women's gymnastics team in 2024.

“I can’t find the words to express how happy we are, how important that was to me and my family and to the whole Hmong community throughout the world,” her father, John Lee, told The Associated Press in 2021.

At the time, Her was serving as a state representative in Minnesota, and expressed to the AP what it meant for Hmong Americans to share their accomplishment s with their community — something she would go on to do herself when she was elected mayor of St. Paul in 2024.

“Every other Hmong person who has done something as a first is literally living out the dreams of our ancestors,” she said.