U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested an Alaska state attorney in Anchorage and is holding him in an ICE detention facility in Washington state, according to an agency spokesperson.
Shucheng Yang, a 32-year-old Chinese national, was arrested in Anchorage on July 10.
“Yang violated the terms of his admission and is a deportable alien,” said Jason Chudy, an ICE public affairs officer, by email on July 16. He said Yang is currently detained in the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, pending immigration proceedings.
Yang is an attorney with the Alaska Department of Law’s labor, business and corporations section, according to the state employee database. He was admitted to the Alaska Bar Association and licensed to practice law in the state in June 2025.
A spokesperson for the department declined to respond to questions about his immigration status, employment status or work authorization when hired, saying the department does not comment on personnel matters.
Chudy declined to say how Yang violated the terms of admission into the country. “To be clear, work authorization does NOT confer legal status in the United States,” he said in the email.
He referred further questions about Yang’s work authorization to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. A spokesperson for that agency referred the question back to ICE, adding that the agency does not comment on individual immigration cases.
The state requires applicants to self-disclose their employment eligibility and work authorization through a verification process during hiring, according to the Alaska Department of Administration, as reported by Alaska News Source.
There are no state criminal charges against Yang, according to court records. He pleaded no contest on June 26 for a speeding citation.
A spokesperson for the ACLU of Alaska said they were trying to get in touch with Yang’s attorney and had no other information on his case.
The Alaska Department of Corrections contracts with ICE to hold detainees in Alaska under an agreement with the U.S. Marshals. A spokesperson confirmed that Yang was detained in Alaska for two days after his arrest until he was transferred on July 12.
The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization. Alaskabeacon.com.
