Tim Walz called a convicted child abuser a "taxpaying citizen" and signed his pardon.
That was five weeks ago.
Now Marco Rubio just made sure Tim Walz's political stunt had a very short shelf life.
What Walz Actually Did
Tou Lue Vang spent two years r**ing a 10-year-old girl in Minnesota.
When police arrested him, he told them it was "a cultural thing" to marry and have sex with girls as young as 12.
He offered his victim $10 to keep her mouth shut.
In 2006, he pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal sexual conduct and was handed a deportation order the same year.
For nearly two decades, Laos refused to accept deportees – so Vang stayed.
https://twitter.com/gatewaypundit/status/2075593111900999986?s=20
Then Laos started cooperating with the Trump administration.
Vang was one week from being put on a plane when Walz and the Minnesota Board of Pardons – which includes Attorney General Keith Ellison and Chief Justice Natalie Hudson – unanimously voted to pardon him on June 10.
The pardon letter opened with "Congratulations!"
DHS called it what it was: "Governor Tim Walz's decision to pardon an illegal alien convicted child r**ist so he can remain in our country is disgusting."
Walz defended the decision by saying Vang had become a "critical member of the community" – and in the same breath accidentally called an illegal alien convicted of child r**e a "citizen" of the United States.
Rubio Closed the Loophole Walz Thought He Opened
Federal immigration law has a specific provision: a full gubernatorial pardon can block deportation by wiping the conviction that made someone removable.
That was Walz's play – erase the record, eliminate the legal basis for removal.
Marco Rubio found the off-switch.
https://twitter.com/BreannaMorello/status/2075578923883069918?s=20
As Secretary of State, Rubio terminated Vang's legal status entirely – bypassing the pardon and giving ICE the authority it needed.
Vang has been deported from the United States.
"Americans should never have to live in fear that foreign sex predators – shielded from deportation by their own elected officials – could endanger them or their children," Rubio told Fox News Digital. "Vang has now been removed from our country and will never pose a threat to any American ever again."
This Was Not a One-Time Mistake
This is the second time in two months Walz has pardoned a Laotian illegal alien to block an ICE deportation.
In May, he pardoned Jai Vang – no relation – whose criminal record includes armed robbery with a gun and driving drunk.
Walz gave the same speech: can't send him back to a country he hasn't seen since childhood, a "critical member of the community."
Roughly 16 percent of all pardon applications submitted to Minnesota's clemency board between March 2025 and June 2026 cited deportation as a reason for seeking clemency.
The Clemency Review Commission itself was created in 2023 under Walz's leadership.
He designed the machinery that is now systematically erasing the criminal records of illegal aliens before Trump's ICE agents can deport them.
When Walz tried to make it easier to grant pardons in 2021 – lowering the unanimous approval requirement – the Minnesota Supreme Court struck it down as unconstitutional.
https://twitter.com/rzimmermanjr/status/2075592792282178027?s=20
So he built a commission instead.
The Part Democrats Don't Want You to Think About
Every sanctuary state governor operating today is working from the same playbook.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker is facing lawsuits for blocking ICE operations – while a previously deported illegal alien from his state killed a college student named Katie Abraham in a drunk-driving crash.
New York refused to hold a machete attacker long enough for ICE to arrive – 24 minutes was too long to wait.
The DOJ has published an official list of sanctuary jurisdictions and is suing states to compel compliance with federal immigration law.
But Walz found something the others haven't fully weaponized yet: the pardon power.
A governor's pardon doesn't just delay deportation – it legally dismantles the grounds for it.
That is not compassion.
That is a deliberate legal strategy to nullify federal immigration enforcement using a power the Founders never intended to shield foreign child ra**sts from justice.
Rubio countered it this time.
But not every case will find a Secretary of State willing to personally intervene – and Walz has now pardoned two criminal illegal aliens in the span of six weeks.
Sources:
- Peter D'Abrosca, "Marco Rubio Steps In After Tim Walz Pardoned Illegal Alien Child R**ist Before Deportation," Fox News, July 10, 2026.
- "MINNESOTA MADNESS: Governor Tim Walz Pardons Criminal Illegal Alien Convicted of Sexually Assaulting a 10-Year-Old Girl," Department of Homeland Security, July 1, 2026.
- "MINNESOTA MADNESS: Governor Tim Walz and Minnesota Sanctuary Politicians Pardon Illegal Alien Convicted for Armed Robbery," Department of Homeland Security, May 27, 2026.
- Andrew R. Arthur, "Minnesota Board Pardons Child Sex Offender, Blocking His Imminent Deportation to Laos," Center for Immigration Studies, July 7, 2026.
- "Hearing Wrap Up: Sanctuary State Governors Endanger American Lives by Defying Federal Immigration Enforcement Efforts," House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, June 12, 2025.
- "Justice Department Publishes List of Sanctuary Jurisdictions," Department of Justice, August 5, 2025.
