When two Providence men were detained and deported to Laos in May, their wives were left feeling helpless and without a path forward. The two women – Cassie Souvannaxa and Tina Phommachan – didn’t know each other well until this year. Cassie’s husband, Vanhhatdy Souvannaxa, was detained at his annual check-in with immigration authorities, which Vanhhatdy had been conducting without issue since he was a teenager. “You know, somebody who has already done their time, and they’re still treated like a criminal.”Cassie and Tina’s husbands were deported to Laos on May 25 – two of more than 100 Southeast Asians across the nation that have been deported to Laos or Vietnam since inauguration day. You know, there’s somebody that you can kind of lean on.”Cassie and Tina are currently in Laos visiting their husbands.