US returns passport to ailing Laotian man who filed lawsuit in effort to leave country

Laotian who sued to leave US gets passport back

SAN FRANCISCO — An ailing Laotian man who sued the U.S. government to return his passport so he could go home to die is getting the document back.

Attorney Kenneth Seeger, who represents the 88-year-old man, says he retrieved the passport Wednesday.

The man filed his lawsuit under only his last name, Xiong, because he . fears drawing attention from government officials in Laos.

Xiong applied for asylum after fighting for the U.S. side during the Vietnam War and being held prisoner by Laos’ leftist government for seven years.

With the asylum application pending, immigration officials held on to his passport.

Xiong says he didn’t want to die far from his wife and children, so he sued to have the document returned.