No one could've imagined Yang would be deported to Laos

A former lawyer for the Hmong-American woman who was brought to the United States at eight months old and lived in Milwaukee until she was deported 11 days ago to Laos says her expulsion came as a complete surprise. Ma Yang, 37, was born in Thailand and attained legal status as a permanent US resident before the mother of five was stripped of her green card by the Trump administration some two-plus years after being released from federal prison, where she served 30 months on marijuana-related charges. In February, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told Yang to report to the agency’s Milwaukee facility. When she showed up, agents detained Yang, sent her to Indiana, then Chicago, and finally was shipped off to Laos.

“The United States sent me back to die,” Yang said.

Yang was removed from the US after President Donald Trump pledged during his campaign to deport “millions and millions” of people. On Saturday, he invoked the rarely-used Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which is intended for use during wartime. In a previous interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Yang said her attorney in the case never told her deportation was a possibility. Defense attorney Matt Ricci, who represented Ma Yang in the 2020 marijuana case, disputed this on Monday, saying his files and notes showed otherwise. He said he told Yang at the time that deportation “could happen,” but that he didn’t think it “would happen.”

“We knew that Laos didn’t take people from the US,” Ricci told The Independent. “She was doing her time, and when she got out of prison, she would presumably stay in the US But there was no guarantee... There were no deportations to Laos, (the idea of it) never crossed anybody’s mind.” Ricci said on Monday that many of Yang’s 12 siblings had been born in the US, but the fact that Yang was born in a refugee camp overseas simply made her the victim of “stupid” birth circumstances.

“Nobody with any compassion would think that’s any compelling reason” to separate Yang from her family, said Ricci, who has not previously spoken to the news media. “It was really just a weed case,” he added, with astonishment. “She was such a small pawn in this whole thing. It was bad even if she didn’t get kicked out of the country. She didn’t do anything that deserved 30 months.” But while Yang’s present situation has received widespread attention, the harrowing details of her early life have not been previously covered.

Yang was often left alone by her parents, who were both physically and emotionally abusive, Ricci wrote in a March 2022 sentencing memo reviewed by The Independent. During these times, it says, an older brother was put in charge of her care. When he got angry, the brother, who is not named in the memo, was prone to violence, the memo continues, adding, “He was often angry.” When she was 11, Yang began to run away from home, according to the memo. She was then sent to live with an aunt in Minnesota, where, at the age of 14, she gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Azia. Yang eventually moved back to Milwaukee. At the age of 20, the memo reveals, Yang, who has worked in a nail salon and as a bartender, had a second daughter, Fantazia.

Around 2010, after Yang’s relationship with Fantazia’s dad ended, she met her longtime partner, Michael Bub. The two remain together, and have three children of their own, according to the sentencing memo. However, Bub has serious health issues that resulted in at least two brain surgeries. The memo says Bub is “incapable of living on his own and stays with his parents,” although Bub’s father is himself extremely ill. Reached by phone on Monday, Bub declined to comment.

In September 2020, Yang and Bub were among 26 people arrested in a massive takedown coordinated by federal authorities. Investigators had been eavesdropping on Yang’s calls, which they said proved her involvement in a cross-country trafficking ring that shipped marijuana between California and Wisconsin, that she had received and packaged cannabis and cash, and stored numerous firearms in the home she shared with Bub.

Yang’s initial involvement came when her sister Xina asked if she could have packages delivered to her home, according to the sentencing memo. Ma agreed, but “specifically chose not to ask what was in the packages,” the memo states.

“It did not take long to figure out something illicit was occurring, but she did not ask what was in the packages,” the memo contends. “She was told by her sister that she couldn’t get in trouble if she didn’t know what was in the packages.” In court filings, Yang, who had no prior criminal record, placed the bulk of the blame for the weapons on Bub, who was released from prison in January 2024. He was a gun enthusiast, owned the firearms legally, and enjoyed going to the range, according to a 2020 bail motion Ricci submitted to the court. The subsequent sentencing memo points to Yang’s sister and her sister’s boyfriend as the ones who roped her into the situation, contending that Yang felt immense “shame of her own” for her actions.

“She certainly regrets her involvement in her crimes, but she has other significant regrets as well,” the memo said. “(S)he has been absent from her family, watching her children grow on video camera. She has not helped her children with their homework. Her children had their own difficulties, prior to the arrest. She has not helped her daughter with speech therapy or been present for her autistic son. She is trying to raise her children from jail.” As Ricci’s sentencing memo argued, “She is guilty. She has suffered. She has no record. There is nothing to suggest an intent to reoffend. A probationary sentence is appropriate in this matter.”