A multi-level political and legal battle has culminated in the deportation of Tou Lue Vang, a 42-year-old Laotian national, after federal agencies intervened to strip his legal status despite a recent state-level pardon.
Vang entered the United States as a refugee in 1994 and was later convicted in Minnesota in 2006 for first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a 10-year-old girl.
According to court records from his 2005 arrest, Vang initially described the abuse to investigators as a “minor thing” and attributed it to foreign “cultural norms.” Following his conviction, a federal immigration judge issued a final order of removal in October 2006, though the deportation went unexecuted for nearly two decades due to historical difficulties in deporting individuals to Laos.
The case resurfaced on June 10, when the three-member Minnesota Board of Pardons—consisting of Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Chief Supreme Court Justice Natalie Hudson—voted unanimously to grant Vang a pardon.
The decision drew sharp condemnation from federal agencies and Republican lawmakers, who argued the action was an attempt to shield a violent offender from imminent deportation.
“Governor Walz’s decision to pardon an illegal alien convicted child rapist so he can remain in our country is disgusting,” the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson said in a statement. “These are the criminal illegal aliens he and his Minnesota sanctuary politicians are protecting.” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis added, “ICE deported Tou Vang… We will always put the safety of the American people first.”
In response, the Minnesota Board of Pardons and Attorney General Ellison’s office strongly defended the thoroughness of their review process, stating that the decision relied heavily on rehabilitation indicators and direct input from those affected by the crime.
“The Minnesota Board of Pardons made the unanimous decision to grant Tou Vang this pardon after an exhaustive process which included a statement of support from the victim, a recommendation to grant the pardon from the Clemency Review Commission, and a large number of community support letters,” a spokesperson for Ellison’s office said. The statement also strongly pushed back against federal characterizations of the legal dynamics, adding, “DHS is lying through their teeth about this pardon. It does not protect Vang from deportation,” and noting that “the Trump Administration does not have to restore his green card.”
Despite the state pardon, federal authorities moved forward with immigration enforcement. Secretary of State Marco Rubio officially terminated Vang’s legal status in the United States, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took Vang into custody, completing his removal from the country.
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