FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Fresno and the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have the largest Hmong populations in the country.
The two are interconnected, with a vast majority of families split between both states.
We spoke with one Hmong Fresno native who now lives in St. Paul, and says fear has become a daily reality, even for those who are American citizens.
“As a person of color somehow overnight, my American citizenship has lost some value,” says Zoua Vang, Fresno Native living in Minnesota.
The massive surge of federal agents to the Twin Cities that began late last year is keeping many residents on edge.
President Trump said this week, he’s ordered 700 of those agents to leave the state, but an estimated 2,000 remain.
“They said there’s going to be a drawdown. We don’t know what that looks like or feels like because things haven’t changed much for those of us who are here at ground zero,” says Vang.
Zoua Vang is a Hmong American; she grew up in Fresno and attended Edison High School. Her family moved to St. Paul, Minnesota in the 1990’s. Now they’re on the frontlines of the unrest.
“When you see innocent people who are being harassed, and then some of them held captive for like a few hours, some people get held for a few days, and then simply release back into the streets with no explanation. How can you not be in fear?” says Vang.
Zoua is a mother of three and she tells us, this escalation of enforcement has forced her to protect her family in ways she never thought would be necessary. That includes sending her son off to college.
“Think about that, he was born at Clovis Community Hospital, but because of the racial profiling that is happening in the state we’re so afraid that the only way to protect our child is to send him back with a passport,” says Vang.
Just two weeks ago, a U.S Citizen of Hmong descent was taken from his St. Paul home at gunpoint by federal officers. Wearing nothing but his underwear and sandals in sub freezing conditions, ICE agents led him onto the street.
His name, Chongly ‘Scott’ Thao, no criminal record, detained without a warrant.
He spoke with the Associated Press following his release.
“My grandson watched everything. After they took me, he was crying, looking for me. They just took me out there without any clothes on, unless only the blanket,” says Thao.
The Department of Homeland Security says the ICE agents were looking for two convicted sex offenders and that Thao “matched the description of the targets.”
Thao’s family disputed that statement, arguing it was an attempt to publicly justify the conduct.
Thousands of Hmong refugees moved to the U.S. after helping America during the Vietnam War. The two largest Hmong populations are in the Twin Cities and Fresno.
Katie Moua, with Hmong Innovating Politics in Fresno, says the impact of agents’ actions in Minnesota is felt deeply here in Central California.
“Human beings deserve human rights and they deserve dignity and compassion, and no one deserves to be stripped away of what they worked so hard for,” says Moua.
While the moment is heavy, the community is standing together.
“I think there’s a very strong fabric of who we are the way we speak in the culture we come from and I think that’s what makes us amazing Americans,” says Vang.
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