Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has deported an undocumented migrant from Laos who had received a pardon from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz after a conviction for raping a 10-year-old girl. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the deportation on Friday, stating that the individual's legal status had been revoked earlier in the week after the pardon was granted on June 10.
"As a result, federal agents took him into custody, and as of today, he has been removed from the United States," Rubio said in a video posted to X. "Because of our action, this foreign criminal will never pose a threat to any American ever again."
The migrant, identified as Tou Lue Vang, 42, had been granted a pardon by the Minnesota Clemency Review Commission (CRC). This commission is headed by Governor Walz, State Attorney General Keith Ellison, and State Chief Justice Natalie Hudson. The pardon effectively erased his criminal conviction and shielded him from automatic deportation proceedings.
Vang was arrested in 2005 and admitted to repeatedly assaulting the minor, reportedly attributing his conduct to cultural norms. He also allegedly attempted to pay the victim for her silence, according to Rubio, who characterized the crimes as "minor things."