Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked the legal status of a Laotian national convicted of child sexual abuse after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz granted him clemency last month, enabling federal agents to deport him from the United States.
Tou Lue Vang was granted a pardon by the Minnesota Board of Pardons on June 10, which included Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Chief Justice Natalie Hudson. Vang had been facing imminent deportation when the pardon was issued.
Vang was convicted in 2006 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for repeatedly assaulting a 10-year-old girl between 2002 and 2005. He arrived in the U.S. as a child refugee from Laos in 1994.
The Revocation
Rubio announced the revocation of Vang’s legal status this week in a video posted to social media. “Just weeks ago, a foreign child rapist was freed to once again endanger America’s children after receiving a pardon from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz,” Rubio said, adding that “federal agents took him into custody and as of today, he has been removed from the United States.”
An immigration judge issued a final removal order against Vang in 2006, following his conviction. State pardons do not automatically erase immigration consequences under federal statute, allowing Rubio to proceed with the revocation despite Walz’s clemency.
Rubio told Fox News Digital 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.”
Official Response
The Department of Homeland Security condemned the original pardon decision. Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis stated that Walz’s decision was “disgusting” and that the pardon would have removed “qualifying convictions that made him removable from the United States.”
Minnesota House Republican Floor Leader Harry Niska called the pardon “despicable” and “morally indefensible,” accusing Walz and Ellison of prioritizing criminals over public safety. The clemency decision drew sharp bipartisan criticism.
This story has been updated. CNN’s staff contributed to this report.
