Walz and Ellison pardon man who raped a 10-year-old girl so that he can stay in Minnesota
The Pioneer Press reports:
A three-person Minnesota panel including Gov. Tim Walz granted a pardon to an immigrant convicted of sexually abusing a child, drawing accusations that he and other Democrats are impeding federal efforts to expel dangerous foreign criminals eligible for deportation.
The Minnesota Board of Pardons granted the reprieve June 10 to Tou Lue Vang, 42, who came to the United States as a child and was set to be deported to Laos imminently. Vang had submitted a letter to the board expressing regret for the actions that led to his 2005 conviction, and said a pardon could help him stay in the country with his wife and six children.
Vang’s victim, who was 10 when the abuse began, also submitted a letter supporting the pardon. Vang pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct in a plea deal that spared him from serving time in prison.
The pardon effectively wiped clean Vang’s criminal record, providing him an avenue to fight deportation.
Trump administration officials criticized the pardon, denouncing Walz and other Democratic leaders in the state. The other two members of the pardon board are Attorney General Keith Ellison and the state’s chief Supreme Court justice, Natalie Hudson.
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The Pioneer Press report goes on:
“Tou Lue Vang lost his legal status following his conviction for repeatedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl,” [Lauren Bis, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security] said, confirming that the pardon would remove the criminal sexual conduct conviction underlying Vang’s removal order.
In response to a request for comment, Walz’s office pointed to the letter the victim provided the board, and said such pleas for clemency carry significant weight…
“The Minnesota Board of Pardons made a unanimous decision to grant Tou Vang this pardon after an exhaustive process which included a statement of support for the pardon from the victim, a recommendation to grant the pardon from the Clemency Review Commission and a large number of community support letters,” Ellison’s office said in a statement to The New York Times. It noted President Donald Trump’s own expansive use of executive pardon power.