Minnesota pardon of sex offender sparks backlash over deportation policy

Federal immigration officers deported Tou Lue Vang on July 10, after Minnesota’s Board of Pardons had unanimously granted him a full pardon on June 10. The clash put Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Chief Justice Natalie Hudson at odds with the Trump administration over whether state clemency can outweigh federal immigration enforcement.

Vang, 42, was convicted in 2006 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a 10-year-old girl and received 30 years of probation. An immigration judge entered a final order of removal on Oct. 31, 2006. ICE arrested him in December 2025 during Operation Metro Surge, and a federal immigration judge ordered his release on Feb. 19, 2026 while his immigration case kept moving.

Minnesota’s pardon law gives the board power to pardon a conviction imposed under state law, set it aside, and purge it from the criminal record. It does not cancel a separate federal removal order. DHS could still move against Vang after the pardon.

The hearing that produced the pardon lasted about 15 minutes. The woman Vang abused as a child submitted a letter supporting clemency and saying she had forgiven him. Vang told the board he was 18 when the abuse began and that deportation would harm his wife and six children. The decision followed a process that included a recommendation from the Clemency Review Commission and community support letters. Federal officials called Vang a convicted child predator and terminated his legal status before removing him.