Rubio Terminates Child Rapist's Status, Forcing Deportation After Walz's June 10 Pardon
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 10
Rubio Terminates Child Rapist's Status, Forcing Deportation After Walz's June 10 Pardon
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 10
Summary
Marco Rubio said he revoked Tou Lue Vang's legal status, allowing DHS to deport the Laotian national after Minnesota's pardon threatened to block his removal.
Vang was convicted in 2006 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for repeatedly raping a 10-year-old girl between 2002 and 2004, and had been set for deportation days before clemency.
June 10 clemency from Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Chief Justice Natalie Hudson wiped Vang's criminal record, after the state review commission recommended the pardon.
DHS had warned the pardon could shield Vang from deportation, and Rubio said the case showed how state clemency can collide with federal immigration enforcement.
The deportation also revives scrutiny of Walz's broader pardon decisions after he and the board in May also pardoned another Laotian immigrant convicted of armed robbery before removal.