During the raids in St Paul, Minnesota, US citizen ChongLy 'Scott' Thao was mistakenly detained after agents broke into his home without a warrant and led him outside in freezing temperatures in just his underwear before realising he was not the suspect and releasing him with neither an apology nor an explanation.
IMAGE: US citizen ChongLy 'Scott' Thao is detained after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and other law enforcement officers conducted an immigration raid at his home in St Paul, Minnesota, January 18, 2026, here and below. Photograph: Leah Millis/Reuters
Photograph: Leah Millis/Reuters
IMAGE: ChongLy Thao is hugged by his sister (who preferred not to give her name for security reasons), in his home a day after he was taken by ICE agents and later returned in St Paul, Minnesota, January 19, 2026.
Thao was taken by ICE agents after they broke down his door and was only returned some time later after they discovered they took the wrong person and that he is a US citizen. Photograph: Leah Millis/Reuters
Thao was taken by ICE agents after they broke down his door and was only returned some time later after they discovered they took the wrong person and that he is a US citizen. Photograph: Leah Millis/Reuters
IMAGE: ChongLy Thao poses for a portrait outside of his home a day after Reuters photographed him at the same door as he was being taken by ICE agents before he was later returned in St Paul, Minnesota, January 19, 2026. Photograph: Leah Millis/Reuters
IMAGE: A demonstrator holds a placard during an anti-Trump protest outside the Capitol building in St Paul, Minnesota, January 20, 2026, days after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good on January 7 during an immigration raid. Photograph: Tim Evans/Reuters
IMAGE: US President Donald Trump holds a poster of an alleged criminal taken off Minnesota streets by ICE during a press briefing at the White House on the one-year mark into his second term in office, January 20, 2026. Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters
IMAGE: Demonstrators take part in an anti-ICE protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 20, 2026. Photograph: Seth Herald/Reuters
IMAGE: Graffiti reading 'ICE lills' lines a building exterior nearly two weeks after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good on January 7, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photograph: Tim Evans/Reuters
IMAGE: An anti-Trump protest outside the Capitol building in St Paul, Minnesota, January 20, 2026. Photograph: Tim Evans/Reuters
Photographs curated and Feature Presentation by Manisha Kotian/Rediff
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