Minnesota officials are facing sharp criticism after granting a pardon to an illegal immigrant convicted of repeatedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl—a decision federal officials say could eliminate the legal basis for his deportation.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz approved the pardon last month after the state’s Clemency Review Commission recommended clemency for Tou Lue Vang, a Laotian national who was convicted in 2006 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) condemned the decision, arguing that the pardon effectively erases the conviction that made Vang removable under federal immigration law.
“Governor Tim Walz’s decision to pardon an illegal alien convicted child rapist so he can remain in our country is disgusting,” Acting DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement Wednesday. “These are the criminal illegal aliens he and his Minnesota sanctuary politicians are protecting.”
Bis added that the pardon “will take away this child rapist’s qualifying convictions that made him removable from the United States.”
According to DHS, Vang repeatedly sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl between 2002 and 2004. Investigators said he at one point offered the victim $10 to remain silent about the abuse.
When questioned by law enforcement, DHS said Vang attempted to justify his actions by claiming such relationships were culturally acceptable.
“It is a cultural thing … to marry and have sex with girls as young as 12,” Vang allegedly told investigators.
According to DHS, he also claimed the 10-year-old victim shared responsibility for the abuse and should herself be arrested.
Following his conviction, an immigration judge issued a final order of removal against Vang.
Federal officials said Vang originally entered the United States from Laos in 1994 and later obtained legal status during the Clinton administration. That status was revoked following his conviction.
However, DHS noted that for many years Laos largely refused to accept deportees from the United States, allowing numerous Laotian nationals with final removal orders to remain in the country despite being ordered deported.
The pardon now raises questions about whether federal immigration authorities will retain the legal basis necessary to carry out that removal order.
The decision also places renewed attention on Minnesota’s pardon process.
The Minnesota Clemency Review Commission was established in 2023 under Walz’s administration to review clemency applications before making recommendations to the state’s Board of Pardons.
Under Minnesota law, pardons require unanimous approval from all three members of the Board of Pardons: the governor, the state attorney general, and the chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.
According to reporting by The New York Times, Walz and other pardon officials have acknowledged that the possibility of deportation is one factor considered when evaluating certain pardon applications involving non-citizens.
According to the Minnesota Clemency Review Commission, approximately 16 percent of pardon applications submitted between March 2025 and June 2026 cited the threat of deportation as one reason for requesting clemency.
Minnesota also granted a pardon last month to another illegal immigrant previously convicted of felony armed robbery.
The state approved 121 pardons while denying 14 applications last year, according to The New York Times.
The latest controversy also comes amid broader scrutiny of Minnesota’s immigration policies.
The Department of Justice classifies Minnesota as a sanctuary state because certain state and local policies limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.
Republicans have increasingly criticized such policies, arguing they make it more difficult for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to remove criminal illegal immigrants from the country.
The issue has become a recurring focus in Congress, including House Oversight hearings examining sanctuary jurisdictions and their relationship with federal immigration enforcement.
Minnesota officials have not publicly indicated that Vang’s conviction was overturned or that he was found innocent; rather, the pardon reflects the state’s clemency process, which can restore certain civil rights without necessarily disputing the underlying criminal conduct.
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