ICE Deports Illegal Migrant Pardoned By Tim Walz After Child Sex Assault Conviction

The Trump administration has deported an illegal immigrant who was pardoned by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after being convicted of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday.

The deported man, Tou Lue Vang, is a citizen of Laos who pleaded guilty in 2005 to first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a child. Court records show the abuse occurred repeatedly over several years. He received a suspended prison sentence, served eight months in a county workhouse, and remained under supervised probation. Federal immigration authorities also issued a final order for his removal.

Last month, Minnesota’s Clemency Review Commission voted to pardon Vang. Gov. Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson approved the recommendation, clearing Vang’s criminal record despite objections from prosecutors.

State officials said Vang had demonstrated rehabilitation and accepted responsibility for his crimes. Prosecutors opposed the pardon, arguing the seriousness of the offense and the impact on the victim outweighed any justification for clemency.

Rubio said the Trump administration responded by revoking Vang’s legal status and directing federal immigration authorities to carry out his deportation.

“As a result, federal agents took him into custody, and as of today, he has been removed from the United States,” Rubio said. “Because of our action, this foreign criminal will never pose a threat to any American ever again.”

Federal officials said the state pardon did not prevent immigration authorities from enforcing federal law because Vang had already been ordered removed from the country years earlier.

The case quickly became a flashpoint in the national immigration debate, with Republicans criticizing Walz for granting clemency to a convicted child sex offender while administration officials argued the deportation demonstrated that federal immigration enforcement remains independent of state pardon decisions.

The Trump administration said it will continue prioritizing the removal of illegal immigrants convicted of serious crimes and will pursue similar deportations whenever federal law allows.