Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported Tou Lue Vang after federal officials revoked his legal status despite a pardon from Minnesota's Board of Pardons.Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, and the Department of Homeland Security said the removal follows a clemency decision by Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Chief Justice Natalie Hudson.Vang was convicted in 2006 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for repeatedly raping a 10-year-old between 2002 and 2004 and received a final removal order that year.Detained during
Operation Metro Surge in December and released by a federal judge before the pardon, Vang was later re-detained and removed, a case that has heightened clashes between state clemency and federal immigration enforcement and increased pressure on Laos to accept deportees.