A St. Paul, Minnesota, resident says he kept his front door closed when federal agents showed up at his home — and the video he recorded of the encounter quickly took off online.
Kong Vang shared the clip on Facebook, where it has drawn more than 400,000 views, according to FOX 9 KMSP.
Vang told the outlet that he was working from home Monday afternoon in the city’s Frogtown neighborhood when his mother told him someone was outside. Suspecting the person at the door could be an ICE agent, he said he started recording on his phone.
In the video, Vang refuses to let the agents enter and presses them to explain why they are there. “We’re not opening the door,” he says, later adding, “You’re trespassing.”
Afterward, Vang said the incident left him shaken. “I’m upset. Frustrated. Scared. All types of emotions,” he told FOX 9 KMSP.
He also said he couldn’t stop wondering whether the visit was part of a broader pattern. “I was really curious and wondering why they were here,” he said, adding that he felt authorities had been “targeting a lot of people of color.”
Vang said he lives with his parents, his sister, and his son. He added that his parents immigrated to the United States from Laos in the 1970s, and that everyone in the home is a U.S. citizen.
Even so, he said he feared that opening the door could escalate the situation. “I was afraid they were going to take me away,” he told FOX 9 KMSP, adding that he also worried they could “take my mom away.”
Vang said he didn’t know what might happen if he let the agents inside, and worried they could force their way in and “rush our house,” even though he believed his family had done nothing wrong.
He also said the agents did not explain why they came to his home, and that they left after roughly a minute and a half of tense back-and-forth.
Vang said the video reflects a wider anxiety he believes is growing across immigrant communities as enforcement activity continues. FOX 9 KMSP reported the crackdown was initially expected to focus on the Somali community, but Vang said his experience suggested the fear is spreading beyond any one group.
He said he shared the video not only to document what happened, but to encourage others to stay alert and prepared. “They keep on telling you that they think they’re doing the right thing,” he said, adding, “but they’re not.”
