ChongLy “Saly” Scott Thao’s toddler grandson was napping on the couch of his St. Paul home when federal immigration agents broke through the door on Sunday afternoon and forced their way in with guns drawn. Thao, a naturalized U.S. citizen and Hmong elder, was quickly handcuffed and can be seen on video being led outside bare-chested in freezing temperatures, wearing nothing but Crocs, shorts and a children’s blanket.
Neighbors and other observers in the area blew whistles, honked horns and yelled outrage, with some recording the detention from a distance, but the agents — wearing military-style fatigues and equipment — got the 57-year-old into a vehicle and drove away.
“ICE drove him around for nearly an hour, questioned him, and fingerprinted him,” said his sister-in-law, Louansee Moua, in a social media post shared widely on Facebook. “Only after all of that did they realize he had no criminal history and no reason to be detained. They then dropped him back off at his apartment like nothing happened.”
“We believe they were looking for someone who previously lived there, but instead of asking for identification, they chose violence, intimidation, and humiliation,” she wrote.
In a subsequent interview, Moua said the family has lived in the location for two years and were not ICE’s intended targets.
A review of court records shows Thao has no criminal record in Minnesota.
Federal authorities say they were looking for sex offenders
A reporter’s email inquiry to an ICE Midwest field office was not immediately returned on Monday, but Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, shared an explanatory message on X claiming the agents were looking for two convicted sex offenders who both have final orders of removal from an immigration judge.
The two offenders — “the definition of the WORST OF THE WORST” wrote DHS on X — were identified as Lue Moua, who is wanted for sexual assault of a minor, rape, kidnapping, and domestic violence, and Kongmeng Vang, who is wanted for sexual assault and gang activity.
“The US citizen lives with these two convicted sex offenders at the site of the operation,” she wrote. “Both of these sexual predators remain AT LARGE in St. Paul. We will be providing the public with photos and descriptors to help us locate and apprehend these public safety threats.”
Moua said her brother-in-law, who lives on St. Paul’s East Side, has never committed a crime, and was still in mourning from losing his elderly mother around Christmas. “They live alone,” she said.
Naturalized citizen
Thao’s mother, Choua Thao, had been a renowned nurse during the Laotian Civil War, she said, where she was one of the first Hmong medical professionals to assist Americans and to be trained by the CIA during the “Secret War.” She helped run two hospitals that tended to American soldiers and Laotians alike.
She delivered a pair of premature twins and adopted one of them — ChongLy “Saly” Thao — while giving his twin sister to another nurse to raise.
“Choua ensured all her children became naturalized U.S. citizens,” Moua wrote. “She believed deeply in doing things the right way, in protecting life, dignity, and family. To see her son treated like this, in front of family, with weapons drawn, is beyond traumatic. This is not about politics. This is about basic human rights, due process, and accountability.”
Moua said she has since contacted the ACLU, the Minnesota Attorney General’s office and left emails and messages with multiple attorneys.
She’s also created a GoFundMe account to help cover legal and health costs for her brother-in-love, who suffers from severe psoriasis. As of noon
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on Monday, the online fundraiser had raised about $12,000 at tinyurl.com/ChongLy2026.
“No family should experience this,” she wrote. “No child should witness this. And no U.S. citizen should be treated this way.”
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