Milwaukee, WI – The Libertarian Party of Wisconsin strongly condemns the recent deportation of Ma Yang, a lifelong Milwaukee resident who was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. Her family fled the aftermath of the U.S. war in Laos and resettled in Milwaukee when Ma was just eight months old.
Despite living in the United States virtually her entire life, Ma Yang was deported to Laos—a country she had never visited and to which she has no national ties. This deportation followed her conviction for allegedly handling money in connection with a marijuana-related operation. She now faces exile in a foreign land, separated from her five children who remain in the United States.
This case is a tragic consequence of the failed War on Drugs and the government’s harmful policies of mass deportation. These policies have torn families apart through mass incarceration while doing little to address real crime or public safety. Meanwhile, they have bloated law enforcement and military budgets and enabled criminal cartels to profit from prohibition.
The Libertarian Party of Wisconsin believes in individual liberty and personal responsibility. We oppose the criminalization and incarceration of non-violent individuals for victimless offenses, especially when related to marijuana. The punishment Ma Yang received does not fit the nature of her offense, and her deportation is a moral failure of both drug and immigration policy.
“As Libertarians, we question not only the fairness of this punishment but the legitimacy of the laws that made it possible,” said Reese Wood, Chair of the Libertarian Party of Wisconsin. “If we accept that marijuana prohibition is unjust and incompatible with American principles of liberty, then we must also question whether it is ever just to enforce such laws so harshly, especially when it leads to the destruction of families and lives.”
The Libertarian Party of Wisconsin calls for immediate reforms to drug laws, an end to mass deportation practices, and the return of Ma Yang to her home and children.
