ICE agents miss target with man’s arrest

Federal agents handcuffed ChongLy Scott Thao, a 57-year-old U.S. citizen, outside his home in below-zero temperatures during a mistaken ICE raid Sunday.

By

National News

January 20, 2026 - 3:11 PM

ChongLy Scott Thao of St. Paul, Minn., was abruptly taken from his home by immigration officials Sunday, Jan. 18. On a Fox 9 broadcast, Homeland Security officials said they were looking for sex offenders. Scott, a U.S. citizen, and with no criminal record, was never informed as to why he was taken by the agents. Photo by GoFundMe/TNS

The windchill was below-zero when ChongLy Scott Thao, 57, — wearing only boxers and Crocs, with a blanket draped over his shoulders — was handcuffed and ushered outside by federal agents who broke open his door.

The Sunday, Jan. 18 incident in St. Paul, Minnesota, stoked fresh outrage about ICE’s tactics as its agents spread across Minnesota. Thao is a U.S. citizen with no known criminal record in Minnesota.

St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, who is a family friend of Thao, called the aggressive actions of federal immigration enforcement agents unjustifiable.

The…

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