Marco Rubio Just Dropped The Hammer After Tim Walz’s Pardon Of An Illegal Immigrant Child Sex Offender

The Trump administration has swooped in to deport an illegal immigrant child sex offender weeks after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pardoned him.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday that he revoked the legal status of Laotian national Tou Lue Vang, resulting in his deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  The Minnesota Board of Pardons voted on June 10 to grant Vang a pardon despite his past conviction for repeatedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl.

.@ICEgov has DEPORTED Tou Vang, the illegal alien CHILD RAPIST @GovTimWalz pardoned in an attempt to allow him to remain in our country.

While Walz and his fellow sanctuary politicians fight to protect heinous criminals like this, we will continue putting the safety of the… https://t.co/QCzSnYh4zA pic.twitter.com/rjBXI5qhlj

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 10, 2026

“As of today, he has been removed from the United States. Because of our actions, this foreign criminal will never pose a threat to any American ever again,” Rubio said in a video posted to X.

“Americans must never be forced by their elected leaders to live alongside foreign sex criminals who have no right to begin with to reside in our country. This administration will always stand with the American people and defend them from violent criminals,” he said.

The board, which includes Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison, and state Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, spared Vang days before he was set to be deported, Rubio said. Vang lost his legal status after he was convicted in 2006 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The Laotian man tried to bribe his victim into silence and dismissed his crimes as “a cultural thing … to marry and have sex with girls as young as 12,” according to DHS.

The Minnesota Board of Pardons granted Vang a reprieve after receiving letters submitted in support of the foreign man, according to The New York Times. One of the letters was authored by his victim, who said she had forgiven Vang and supported his request for a pardon.

Minnesota officials cited the victim’s statement as a major reason for their decision to pardon Vang.

The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the original case against Vang, opposed the pardon and argued that he received a lenient sentence of 30 years’ probation because the victim, who was 12 at the time, “was experiencing pressure from her family to not cooperate,” The New York Times reported.

Vang first came to the United States in 1994 and was given legal status by the Clinton administration, according to DHS.

An immigration judge issued Vang a final deportation order on October 31, 2006, following his conviction.

Vang is not the first foreigner Minnesota officials have attempted to shield from deportation. On May 27, 2026, the Minnesota Board of Pardons granted a pardon to Jai Vang, a Laotian illegal immigrant with felony convictions for robbery and robbery of a business with a gun, as well as a conviction for driving under the influence of liquor, according to DHS.