releases: https://barrett.house.gov/media/press-releases/barrett-facilitates-release-st-johns-resident-ice-custody-reuniting-hmong
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
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| https://barrett.house.gov/media/press-releases/barrett-facilitates-release-st-johns-resident-ice-custody-reuniting-hmong | Barrett Facilitates Release of St. Johns Resident from ICE Custody, Reuniting Hmong-American Family | 2025-12-03 | 2025 | 2025-12 | Republican | House | MI | Tom Barrett | B001321 | barrett.house.gov | barrett | https://barrett.house.gov/media/press-releases | scraper | Grand Rapids, Mich. — Today, Congressman Tom Barrett (MI-07) reunited Lue Yang with his family after months of advocacy that facilitated his release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. Yang — a father of six, resident of St. Johns, and leader of Michigan’s Hmong-American community — came to the United States legally as an infant in 1979 after his father aided the CIA during the secret war against communism in Laos. Yang was born stateless in a refugee camp in Thailand. “I’m so thankful that Lue was reunited with his family. As soon as we heard of his arrest, my staff aggressively sought more information,” said Barrett. “Lue is not and never has been an illegal immigrant, and he does not present a threat to our community, which motivated me to work tirelessly to see him released from custody. I have consistently said that I believe we need to be firm, fair, and humane in how we enforce immigration law, and I’m proud that I could effectively advocate to get Lue released. I appreciate the willingness of the administration to listen to my concerns about Lue’s case and to reach this outcome.” Barrett and his staff worked closely with Ann Vue, Yang’s wife, to advocate for his release since ICE detained him this summer. Yang was convicted for sitting in the car during a home break-in during his youth, but he served his 10-month sentence and remained in the country lawfully. In the decades since his conviction, Yang has remained a law-abiding, productive member of the community. His conviction was expunged several years ago, and he received a full pardon this fall. In October, Barrett hand-delivered a letter to the ICE office in Detroit advocating for Yang’s release and coordinated directly with senior administration officials. Although Lue doesn’t have a permanent immigration status, he has always maintained a lawful presence in the United States. Image Click here to watch the full video. Click here to download the full video. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T01:40:41Z | 2026-04-06T20:09:11Z |