A Laotian immigrant pardoned by Minnesota officials just months ago has been removed from the United States, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday, escalating a fierce political clash between the Trump administration and Democratic state leaders over deportation authority.
Tou Lue Vang, convicted in 2006 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for assaulting a young girl between 2002 and 2004, spent nearly two decades in Minnesota after Laos initially refused to accept deportees. Federal agents detained him during an immigration enforcement operation in December 2025, and a federal judge ordered his release from ICE custody in February 2026.
The Minnesota Board of Pardons granted Vang a pardon in June after he demonstrated remorse. The victim herself wrote a letter supporting the pardon, stating she had forgiven him and observed his personal transformation over the years. "He is not the same person now," she wrote. "I have seen how he has changed."
Rubio moved swiftly to reverse the state's action. In a video statement, he said he revoked Vang's legal status, resulting in his arrest and deportation. "Because of our action, this foreign criminal will never pose a threat to any American ever again," Rubio said.
The case has become a flashpoint in the escalating feud between the Trump administration and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat. Republican officials, including House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, attacked the pardon as reckless. Emmer called it "yet another action by our feckless governor that puts violent illegal aliens ahead of innocent Americans."
The Department of Homeland Security said Vang arrived in the United States in 1994 with legal status, which was revoked following his 2006 conviction. A removal order was issued the same year.
Walz's office declined to comment on Rubio's action. A Homeland Security official previously called the pardon "disgusting."
Author James Rodriguez: "This case exposes the raw tension between state criminal justice decisions and federal immigration enforcement, with a victim's forgiveness caught in the crossfire of partisan politics."
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