Zong Yang, a South St. Paul resident who legally immigrated to the U.S. as a child, was detained in February 2026 during Operation Metro Surge and deported to Laos in May over a 1999 felony burglary conviction in Wisconsin. Yang had never lived in Laos before and does not speak the local language. He is now permanently barred from returning to the United States and living in Vientiane with other deportees while trying to support himself through low-wage work.