(KNOX/Valley News Live) – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is condemning a pardon the Minnesota Clemency Review Commission gave to a man convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a child. DHS says the pardon could block him from being deported.
The commission voted on June 10 to pardon 42-year-old Tou Lue Vang of Laos. Vang pleaded guilty in 2005 to first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He had sexual contact with a person under 13 years old. He was sentenced in 2006 in Ramsey County District Court to 144 months. He served time at the Ramsey County Workhouse and was placed on 30 years of supervised probation. His probation was discharged in 2019.
DHS says Vang entered the United States in California in 1994 and was granted legal status by the Clinton administration. That status was revoked following his conviction, and a Department of Justice immigration judge issued a final order of removal in 2006. DHS says Vang was set to be removed from the country within weeks of the pardon being granted.
Court records show Vang applied for a pardon on July 21, 2025. The Minnesota Clemency Review Commission notified the sentencing judge’s successor, Ramsey County District Court Judge Sara Grewing, in December 2025. Judge Grewing filed her response on December 18, 2025, taking no position on the pardon. The commission requested court documents in January 2026 and held Vang’s clemency hearing on April 3, 2026. The commission’s letter confirming the pardon is dated June 11, 2026.
Court records reviewed the list and the offense date as 2002. According to DHS, the assaults continued through 2004. DHS says that during a police interview, Vang attempted to justify his actions by saying that for him “it is a cultural thing…to marry and have sex with girls as young as 12,” and claimed the victim was equally at fault.
“Governor Tim Walz’s decision to pardon an illegal alien convicted child rapist so he can remain in our country is disgusting,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. “Tou Lue Vang lost his legal status following his conviction for repeatedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl. Following the conviction, he was placed in removal proceedings and issued a final order of removal by a judge. This pardon will take away this child rapist’s qualifying convictions that made him removable from the United States.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also weighed in on social media, saying the pardon came “just a week before Vang was set to be removed from our nation.”
DHS also noted this is not the first pardon of its kind from the commission. The commission granted a pardon in May, Jai Vang, also from Laos, whose criminal record DHS says includes convictions for robbery, robbery of a business with a gun and driving under the influence.
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