Syrians in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status may no longer be able to live and work in the U.S. as soon as next month. 

The Department of Homeland Security says since the civil war in Syria ended last year, people who sought TPS status here no longer face life-threatening danger if they return. 

Jad Salamey, civil rights and immigration attorney for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Michigan chapter, says “Current administration and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem determined that the conditions for TPS no longer exist in Syria, and that essentially, it’s safe enough and there’s no serious threat for Syrians to be kept away from returning to Syria.” Salamey says the change in status will affect about 6,000 Syrians. 

Michigan is home to about 15,000 Syrian Americans. 

He says Syrian TPS holders must apply for a different immigration status or prepare to self-deport by November 21. “The Trump administration has offered Syrians, who leave voluntarily, a free airline ticket and $1,000 departure bonus, if that is what they want to do. But if not they want to stay here, maybe they have family connections. I strongly recommend getting legal assistance as soon as possible.” 

Salamey says CAIR Michigan is getting calls from people about TPS and other immigration assistance. 

Additional headlines from Tuesday, October 28, 2025

Solar neighborhoods begin construction

Construction on the first of five solar neighborhoods has officially begun. It started on approximately 42 acres of blighted land in the Van Dyke/ Lynch area on Monday. 

Two years ago, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced the plan to convert 165 acres of vacant and blighted land into solar farms to offset the electricity used at 127 municipal buildings. Duggan says demand for energy continues to rise and the solar project will help mitigate those demands. “We’re still importing energy, and the demands being placed are enormous. We’re going to need every source of energy that we can get, and to be able to do it with renewable energy is such an important step forward.” 

The first solar neighborhood is expected to be completed early next year. The Houston Whittier/ Hayes neighborhood will break ground in the Spring of 2026. All five neighborhoods are expected to be up and running by the first quarter of 2027. 

Sno-City film screening at WSU

A film screening on Wayne State’s campus next week supports ski programs for students at Detroit’s University Prep and Hamtramck High School.

Sno-City is a film by Warren Miller and will be screened at Wayne’s Community Arts Auditorium Saturday November 7. The event is sponsored by SOS Outreach and Crystal Community Ski Club.

Money raised will go toward a 3-day ski trip for students at Crystal Mountain in March. For more information and for tickets, go here.

Indigenous representation in media

The Henry Ford will host journalist and Cherokee Nation citizen Rebecca Nagle for a discussion on representation and erasure of indigenous people in the news and other media.

“We’re Still Here: Fighting Indigenous Erasure in the Media” is Saturday November 8 at 1 p.m. in the Anderson Theater. For more information and tickets go to thehenryford.org/current-events. 

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Amid reports that federal immigration officials are accelerating the deportation process of Lue Yang, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has pardoned the Hmong refugee. The governor called him “a devoted family man and respected leader in Michigan’s Hmong community.”

Yang, 47, a father of six from St. Johns, was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in July. ICE cites a decades-old conviction for attempted second-degree home invasion, a crime committed when he was 19.

Michigan courts have since expunged that record under the state’s Clean Slate law, but federal immigration rules still treat it as grounds for removal.

Since his arrest, Yang has been transferred through multiple ICE facilities, including the federal staging site in Alexandria, Louisiana, which is part of a network used for deportation flights. His case unfolds as the Trump administration has increased removals of Southeast Asian refugees this year.

Refugee to community builder 

During the Vietnam War, Yang’s family, like many Hmong in Laos, worked alongside U.S. troops and CIA operatives, a loyalty that later forced them to flee their homeland and begin again in America. 

Before his family’s journey to the U.S., Yang was born in a Thai refugee camp. He was brought to America as a young child and has no connection to Laos, the country immigration officials are considering for his deportation.

His wife, Ann Vue, told The Metro he has been a pillar for the state’s Hmong residents.

“He has literally brought our Hmong community out and gave us a voice — that we do exist in the state of Michigan.”

Ensnared in the system

Advocates, including Michigan State Sen. Stephanie Chang and immigration attorney Aisa Villarosa of the Asian Law Caucus, say they’ve received reports that Yang’s deportation is proceeding. They believe he was placed on a plane last night with a leg to Laos. 

The Metro has contacted ICE but has not yet received confirmation.

Villarosa says she is encouraged by the governor’s pardon, calling it “a groundbreaking step in the movement to challenge Lue’s detention and deportation, and a message of affirmation to the millions of loved ones and advocates at the front lines of inhumane immigration enforcement policies.”

Still, she says, the effect of Whitmer’s pardon on Yang’s immigration case remains unclear.

Just before Whitmer announced Yang’s pardon, Villarosa joined The Metro’s Robyn Vincent to discuss fighting to keep families like the Yangs together. 

Use the audio player above to listen.

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Michigan has long been home to Hmong refugees. The community comprises families who fled war, lived in refugee camps, and rebuilt their lives in the United States. Many fought alongside the U.S. during the Vietnam War.

Last month, ICE agents arrested and detained around a dozen Hmong refugees in Detroit. 

Michigan State Rep. Mai Xiong (D-Warren) was on The Metro urging for clarity from federal immigration officials.

A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement later told The Metro the people arrested include “a known gang member” and convicted criminals.

Still, family members and lawmakers like Xiong and State Sen. Stephanie Chang say the cases are more complex than that. They issued an open letter to ICE field director Kevin Raycraft, urging for the release of detained community members.

Arrested at work, a family in limbo

Last week, ICE deported some of the detained Hmong and Laotian refugees. Several are still in custody, including Lue Yang, a torque technician in the auto industry, a father of six, and president of the Hmong Family Association of Lansing, MI. 

Family describes him as a vital community leader.

“He has literally brought our Hmong community out and gave us a voice — that we do exist in the state of Michigan,” said Ann Vue, Yang’s wife.

Yang was arrested at work in July and is now in custody in a federal detention center in Baldwin. His potential deportation could stem from a decades-old conviction that the state expunged. 

Aisa Villarosa, an attorney with the Asian Law Caucus, says she is concerned about the “covert nature” of many of these arrests and deportations — and the people ICE is targeting.

“We are seeing folks who are anchors of their communities, beloved family members, stripped from their families, often after decades of living peacefully in their communities,” Villarosa said.

State response and what’s at stake

Chang is crafting legislation to protect families like Yang’s, but she says state policy has limits.

“These are not violent offenders. These are not people who are a danger to the community.”

Chang urges a case-by-case judgment that weighs identity, community ties, and journey — not just records. How that plays out in Yang’s case could signal how much due process and consistent legal standards govern these cases.

Guests: 

• Ann Vue, wife of detained Hmong refugee Lue Yang
• Aisa Villarosa, immigration attorney with the Asian Law Caucus
• Michigan State Senator Stephanie Chang

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State Representative Mai Xiong wants answers about why ICE detained Hmong refugees in Detroit.

She says the people detained are not undocumented immigrants — they are refugees who entered the U.S. legally. The incident has sparked fear and confusion in Southeast Michigan’s Hmong community, prompting calls for accountability.

This issue hits home for Xiong, Michigan’s first Hmong American legislator and a former refugee herself. She represents Warren in Michigan’s 13th House District.

She joined The Metro’s Robyn Vincent to explain what she knows and the lingering questions that remain.

The Metro contacted Detroit’s ICE field office and the Detroit Police Department for details. Detroit Police said they did not know about the detentions. ICE has not responded.

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Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

More stories from The Metro