00:00This is the moment 56-year-old Chong Li Tao was arrested by ICE at his home in St. Paul, Minnesota.
00:07Officers broke down his door, handcuffed him, and dragged him into the snow, wearing just shorts and sandals.
00:15Tao, who goes by the name Scott, was returned home later on Sunday without explanation or apology.
00:21He spoke to writers, recounting the fear and shame he felt.
00:24My daughter-in-law came to the room and said, Dad, there's ICE out there.
00:30I said, okay, just open the door.
00:33So I locked my bedroom, and then Sunday they break in.
00:38They just came to the room and locked in the door.
00:42So I said, okay, just open the door, see what they want.
00:44And then Sunday just guns pointed at us.
00:48I said, whoa.
00:49And then they go, you, come out here.
00:53I go, okay.
00:55And then I came out there with my hand up, and then they put my hand on my back.
01:03So I did, and then Sunday they just handcuffed me.
01:07Tao said he tried presenting his ID.
01:09They didn't ask for my ID or anything until after they handcuffed me.
01:14And then they asked me, do I have my ID?
01:17I go, yeah, it's in the room.
01:19And then my daughter-in-law, she tried to get my ID, but they didn't want to see it no more.
01:25Yeah, they just took me out there with no clothes on, and they just covered with my grandson's blankets.
01:35Yeah, they just took me out there.
01:38And I was like, man, this is embarrassing.
01:43Tao said his parents brought him from Laos to the United States in 1974, and he became a U.S. citizen in 1991.
01:52After officers photographed him and took his fingerprints, he was returned home.
01:56In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said officers were investigating two convicted sex offenders at the address.
02:05Spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said a U.S. citizen living there refused to be fingerprinted or be facially identified,
02:11and that he matched the description of an offender.
02:14She added that it's standard protocol to hold all individuals from a house involved in an operation for the safety of the public and law enforcement.
02:22Tao's son, Chris, says what happened makes him wonder if America is still a good place to be.
02:27If this is America, if this is America, it's what it looks like.
02:30Why are we here?
02:31What are we doing here?
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