Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced this week that a Laotian man convicted of raping a child, who had been pardoned by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz days before a scheduled deportation, has been removed from the United States.
Rubio told Fox News Digital that he terminated Tue Lue Vang's legal status in the country after the pardon threatened to block the Department of Homeland Security from completing the deportation. Vang was convicted in 2006 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He repeatedly raped a 10-year-old girl between 2002 and 2004.
"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. "Tue Lue Vang admitted to committing heinous crimes against a 10-year-old girl in Minnesota. He attempted to pay his victim for her silence and dismissed his acts of child abuse as a 'minor thing.'"
Rubio added that "just days before he was scheduled to be deported, the Minnesota Governor pardoned him, setting him free to endanger American families once again."
The pardon was granted on June 10 by Minnesota's Board of Pardons, which consists of Walz, state Attorney General Keith Ellison, and state Chief Justice Natalie Hudson. The nine-member Minnesota Clemency Review Commission had recommended the pardon to the board.
A member of that commission wrote to Vang informing him of the decision. "Being granted a pardon is a notable achievement and a reflection of the work you have done since your conviction," the letter read.
The Department of Homeland Security had expressed concern at the time that the pardon would shield Vang from deportation. DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis called the decision disgusting when it was announced. "These are the criminal illegal aliens he and his Minnesota sanctuary politicians are protecting," she said.
Rubio said he moved to prevent the pardon from blocking the federal government's enforcement action. "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," he said. "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."
This was not the first such case in Minnesota this year. In May, Walz and the same board pardoned another Laotian man who had been convicted of armed robbery, also before he could be deported.
