She Has Not Gone Outside

Thi Dua Vang fled Vietnam, where her family had been persecuted for being Christian, with a brother who had been imprisoned for his faith. She lived undocumented in Thailand for more than seven years before the family was granted asylum in the United States in December 2023. She had applied for a green card and was awaiting final approval. On the morning of January 8, six ICE agents came to her family’s St. Paul home; her son opened the door. Vang speaks Hmong; her brother, who interpreted for her, says the agents would not state a reason. She was transferred the next day to El Paso, then to Houston. At one point she was brought onto a runway in a plane she believed was deporting her to Vietnam before being pulled off. After two weeks, an immigration judge ordered her released on bond.

Five days after her release, in compliance with the conditions of her bond, Vang completed a check-in with ICE; she was free to go. Since then, she has not been able to leave her home. She has lost her job. According to her account in the article, ICE agents have continued to come to the house. The release order, the bond, and the legal-status documents — the formal pieces of paper an immigration system is supposed to use to certify that a person is not to be detained again — have not, in her case, foreclosed the possibility of being detained again.