Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has publicly defended his state's decision to pardon Tou Lue Vang, a Laotian national convicted of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl, who was subsequently deported by the Trump administration to Laos. The pardon was granted by Minnesota's Board of Pardons on June 10, and Vang was deported on June 14.
During a Tuesday press conference, Walz questioned the impact of Vang's deportation, asking, "Did that make us any safer?" He also asked, "Did that make the children that are left behind any more stable?" Walz added, "Did it improve the idea that we can’t all be judged by our worst day?" He emphasized that the crimes committed were "horrific."
Walz stated that Vang's pardon was not related to immigration policy, noting that the Board of Pardons had previously denied clemency to other applicants with immigration consequences.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Vang's deportation Friday, asserting that "Americans should never have to live in fear that foreign sex predators — shielded from deportation by their own elected officials — could endanger them or their children." Rubio stated, "That's why I terminated his legal status in the United States. Vang has now been removed from our country and will never pose a threat to any American ever again."
Vang entered the U.S. in 1994 and was granted legal status during the Clinton administration. Between 2002 and 2004, he committed repeated sexual assaults against a victim who was in the fourth grade at the time. Following his conviction, federal officials determined Vang lost his legal status and was placed under a final removal order.
The Minnesota Clemency Review Commission had recommended a pardon for Vang. The Board of Pardons, comprising Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, ultimately granted the pardon. Despite the pardon, it did not prevent Vang's deportation, according to a spokesperson for Attorney General Keith Ellison's office.
The pardon drew criticism from federal immigration officials and Republican lawmakers. Lauren Bis, Acting Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security, called Walz's decision "disgusting" and accused him and other "sanctuary politicians" of protecting "criminal illegal aliens."