this post was submitted on 16 Mar 2025
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[–] barooboodoo@lemm.ee 347 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (26 children)

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.

[–] PostaL@lemmy.world 46 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Imagine if she'd have pleaded not guilty...

[–] bane_killgrind@slrpnk.net 39 points 14 hours ago

Believe it or not, straight to jail

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 12 points 9 hours ago

The history of the War on Some Drugs has been terrible. People like Leary who had a 10 year sentence for....possession of two roaches. And that was a relatively wealthy white guy...

[–] gedaliyah@lemmy.world 5 points 5 hours ago

Possession of any amount for a first-time offense is a misdemeanor punishable by 6 months imprisonment and up to $1,000 in fines

Possession of any amount of marijuana (subsequent offense) is a felony punishable by 3.5 years imprisonment and up to $10,000 in fines

The cultivation of 4 plants or fewer cannabis plants is a felony punishable by 3.5 years imprisonment and up to $10,000 in fines

The cultivation of between 4 and 20 cannabis plants is a felony punishable by 6 years imprisonment and up to $10,000 in fines

Some of the most punitive laws I've seen.

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[–] Naich@lemmings.world 116 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (6 children)

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.

[–] x00z@lemmy.world 25 points 18 hours ago

Same reason as the Nazi regime and the Jews. They need somebody to hate and destroy because of their fragile ego. It is easier to believe in something than it is to question something.

[–] notsoshaihulud@lemmy.world 8 points 18 hours ago

One of my friends was complaining that Biden's border policy is a disaster and I told her that it's actually very easy to "fix" the border, it's just incompatible with stated US values:

Ritual torture.

Now they have to expand the target population because Biden's deportation numbers were better.

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[–] PapaStevesy@lemmy.world 93 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

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.

[–] x00z@lemmy.world 18 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

Hopefully Laos deports her back to the US.

[–] 60d@lemmy.ca 17 points 15 hours ago

Where she won't be able to afford the medications anyway!

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[–] altkey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 65 points 18 hours ago (8 children)

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.

[–] 60d@lemmy.ca 64 points 15 hours ago (1 children)
[–] samus12345@lemm.ee 4 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Doesn't really work with a lot of Asian people. Needs an additional eye diagram.

[–] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 42 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Maybe I miss something, but why Laos of all places?

Seems like Trump just randomly picked a nation that Hmong live in.

The modern Hmong reside mainly in Southwestern China and Mainland Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hmong_people

[–] aesthelete@lemmy.world 14 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

Weren't those the people from that one Clint Eastwood film a few years ago?

[–] neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

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 39 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) (3 children)

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.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 6 points 11 hours ago

It's a testament to Kurdish military prowess that the same story with different details didn't happen to them

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[–] JacksonLamb@lemmy.world 5 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (4 children)

America secretly carpet bombed Laos when Laos wasn't even at war.

They dropped 2 MILLION tons of bombs onto it and somehow kept it a secret from the American people for multiple years. One of Henry Kissingers ideas.

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[–] imsufferableninja@sh.itjust.works 16 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Because he wasn't sure if she is Chinese or Japanese

[–] fritobugger2017@lemmy.world 7 points 4 hours ago

Hank Hill's Dad would have known where she is from.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 15 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

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)

[–] ThomasCrappersGhost@feddit.uk 10 points 8 hours ago

You’re being sarcastic, but I bet this is the logic. Terrifying watching what is happening in the USA at the minute.

[–] SPRUNT@lemmy.world 13 points 7 hours ago

Trump thinks Asians are lousy, so they must all come from Laos.

[–] theshoeshiner@lemmy.world 6 points 6 hours ago

More than likely her parents were from Laos. Despite being born in Thailand, she is probably considered a Laotian citizen. It's very unlikely they would have accepted her back otherwise.

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[–] WOTRBestCRPG@lemmy.world 50 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (6 children)

Canada Europe, Australia and other free democracies need to be offering this woman (and her family) and people like her refugee status. She is clearly being discriminated against and needlessly and cruelly punished.

[–] JacksonLamb@lemmy.world 8 points 4 hours ago

Many thousands of refugees fleeing persecution are facing discrimination and cruelty too, and have been for years.

Free democracies in wealthy nations need to step up better to look after ALL refugees.

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[–] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 33 points 23 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 6 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Why? What's surprising about Nazis doing Nazi things?

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[–] elmicha@feddit.org 30 points 22 hours ago
[–] StopTouchingYourPhone@lemmy.world 27 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

TIL the nazi president and his rubberstamp king invoked The Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which I also just learned "is intended to be invoked when the country is at war or if a foreign nation has invaded the U.S. or has issued threats that they will."

[edit bc the internet does not need more allcaps]

[–] Retropunk64@lemm.ee 9 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

The country is at war, Nazis have invaded the white house.

War implies actual resistance, not just online complaints.

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[–] KbSez@piefed.social 22 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

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

[–] samus12345@lemm.ee 7 points 5 hours ago

Since it isn't mentioned, they probably didn't.

[–] atempuser23@lemmy.world 4 points 5 hours ago

She was a legal us permanent resident not a citizen. She can't vote and would be in prison.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.world 14 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Where did Wisconsin’s electoral college votes go to? I’m guessing they wanted this.

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