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January 18, 2026

2 entries on this date.

ICE breaks into St. Paul home at gunpoint and detains Hmong American U.S. citizen ChongLy Thao in his underwear; county probes it as kidnapping

On January 18, 2026, masked federal immigration agents broke down the door of ChongLy "Scott" Thao, a 56-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen of Hmong descent, in St. Paul, pointed guns at his family, and led him into subzero cold wearing only his underwear, Crocs, and a blanket. Agents handcuffed Thao in front of his young grandson and drove him around questioning him before fingerprinting confirmed he is a longtime citizen with no record, then returned him home without explanation. Ramsey County's attorney and sheriff opened an investigation into the federal agents' conduct as a possible kidnapping.

Top DOJ prosecutor in LA urged the public to feed false information to immigrant-rights hotlines

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli of the Central District of California posted on X on January 18, 2026 that the public has a "First Amendment right" to call immigrant-rights hotlines and "provide inaccurate information," then shared a screenshot identifying specific rapid-response hotlines run by CHIRLA, ÓRALE, and Immigrant Defenders Law Center. The post came in response to Rep. Jimmy Gomez alerting constituents to federal immigration enforcement in Los Angeles's Fashion District, and one of the named organizations told reporters it was already experiencing an increase in "crank calls."