‘The United States sent me back to die,’ Ma Yang, a mother of five, said
  • KbSez@piefed.socialEnglish
    10·
    4 hours ago

    I’m scanning the article for the part where she or members of her family voted for trump

  • Gammelfisch@lemmy.world
    12·
    2 hours ago

    She must have been a weed dealer, not a small time one, to receive a 2-year prison sentence. If she supports the GOP, oh well, there’s the door.

  • altkey@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    7·
    8 hours ago

    Maybe I miss something, but why Laos of all places? I didn’t get what connects her to that particular counrty, could it be her ethnicity as a person who was actually born in another country? Why not Tai? Like, I miss a lot of questions to ask before that, why she’s even deported in the first place, but the seemingly random choice of the country is what surprised me and the article’s writer the most.

    • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
      21·
      30 minutes ago

      Asian kind of eyes? Laos is an Asian city? There you go, send her to Laos, it’s all the same

      (Severe /s if that wasn’t clear)

    • neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      4·
      7 hours ago

      I’m far from an expert and only know what I know from a short story.

      But the Hmong people are from Laos but many of them fled to Thailand as refugees I think it was from some military action.

      I’m not sure, but it might have been the US military. I read somewhere that Laos had the most bombs dropped on it or something.

      Again, this info could be off, so please double check if you want to learn more, but this might get you started.

      • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
        6·
        7 hours ago

        IIRC, the CIA convinced the Hmong to fight for them against the communists in southeast Asia, and promised to take care of them if it all went south. Well, we all know how the Vietnam war went, and while a government that was very unhappy with the Hmong for siding with the CIA was taking over, the CIA basically threw deuces and vanished on them. So shocking and uncharacteristic of the US to betray an ally, I know. So, the Hmong fled to Thailand and begged the US for aid. I’m sure we’ll get the duality of tankie responses (nobody was treating them badly but if they were they deserved it), but the gist is that they were seeking refuge. A few years later, the US granted it. Now, bear in mind, originally they’d been told they were going to be able to have their own farms and fuck off to nowhere and mind their own business. Uncle Sam basically dumped them in Merced, California, patted himself on the back, and walked away. There was a lot of drama about it for a while, because the locals got real upset that this entire population just showed up basically overnight and seemed to resist integration, and the Hmong were upset because they just wanted to fuck off and mind their own farms. Fifty years later, though, the Hmong are a pretty big deal (in a good way) in the community, so that’s cool.

  • barooboodoo (he/him)@lemm.ee
    31·
    14 hours ago

    Yang was born in Thailand and was a legal permanent US resident until she pleaded guilty to marijuana-related charges and served more than 2 years in prison.

    Unfuckingbelievable. 2 years in prison for weed, what are we even doing here.

  • PapaStevesy@lemmy.world
    8·
    13 hours ago

    Oh, she’s also diabetic and running out of insulin & heart medication. And the Lao government is holding her things so she has no money or identification or anything. Neat.

  • Naich@lemmings.world
    5·
    14 hours ago

    Anyone wondering why they are so needlessly cruel - that’s the point. It’s a demonstration of malign power for both the oppressed and the oppressors so that each knows their place.