Milwaukee-area woman deported to Laos though she’s never been there, doesn’t speak the language
By Sophie Carson
March 14, 2025
A Hmong American woman who has lived in the Milwaukee area since she was 8 months old was deported last week to Laos, a country she has never visited, and says she is stranded in a rooming house surrounded by military guards.
Ma Yang, 37, a mother of five, said she does not speak the Lao language, has no family or friends in the country and that the military is holding all her documents. She was born in Thailand, the daughter of Hmong refugees after the Vietnam War, and she was a legal permanent U.S. resident until she pleaded guilty to taking part in a marijuana trafficking operation.
Michael Bub speaks to his longtime partner Ma Yang, who was deported to Laos, outside of their home on Thursday March 13, 2025 in South Milwaukee, Wis.
“The United States sent me back to die,” she said. “I don’t even know where to go. I don’t even know what to do.”
As President Donald Trump pushes the mass deportation of immigrants, Yang believes she is one of the first Hmong Americans to be deported to Laos in recent years. As of November, the U.S. considered Laos an “uncooperative” country that accepted few, if any, deportees. Zero people were deported to Laos in the last fiscal year, according to federal data.
UPDATE: On all-night calls, Hmong American woman stranded in Laos searches for a path forward
Once she arrived in the Laotian capital of Vientiane on March 6, she said she was questioned by military authorities then sent to a rooming house, where guards did not allow her to leave or contact anyone for five days. She paced in circles around the compound and ate food the guards gave her.
A few days ago, she was taken to buy a cellphone and withdraw cash. She could finally reach out to her partner of 16 years, Michael Bub of South Milwaukee, a U.S. citizen. The military official in charge of her situation — she does not know his rank or title — then said she could leave if she wanted. But she is scared to venture out.
“How do I rent, or buy, or anything, with no papers?” Yang said. “I’m a nobody right now.”
Yang has no insulin for her diabetes and dwindling supplies of high blood pressure medication, she said. She is the only deportee in the house, she said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, did not provide comment Thursday on Yang’s case.
Michael Bub speaks to his longtime partner Ma Yang, who was deported to Laos, outside of their home on Thursday March 13, 2025, in South Milwaukee.
Criminal conviction laid groundwork for deportation order
A longtime Milwaukee resident, Yang worked as a nail technician and a receptionist at nail salons before the COVID-19 pandemic. She was earning a living for her children, who range in age from 6 to 22. Her partner, Bub, is disabled: he has had two brain surgeries, is partially paralyzed and suffers from memory loss.
During the pandemic, the family moved into a house that prosecutors say was part of a marijuana trafficking operation.
Yang was among 26 people indicted in a sweeping federal case in 2020. It alleged Yang helped count and package cash that was mailed to marijuana suppliers in California. Prosecutors found bags of cash taped between pages of magazines, according to a complaint.
She took a plea deal and served 2 1/2 years in prison. She said her attorney incorrectly told her the plea deal would not affect her immigration status as a green card holder. But her legal permanent residency was revoked.
Yang would’ve traded a shorter prison sentence for a longer one if she could have kept her green card, she said. She needs to be home with her kids.
“I made a mistake, and I know…
[READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE]