{"id":36002,"date":"2026-07-03T17:13:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T22:13:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=36002"},"modified":"2026-07-03T17:13:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T22:13:54","slug":"st-paul-pardon-sparks-deportation-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/st-paul-pardon-sparks-deportation-dispute\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Paul Pardon Sparks Deportation Dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

St. Paul Pardon Sparks Deportation Dispute<\/h2>\n

RAMSEY COUNTY<\/strong> \u2014 (trfnews.i234.me)<\/a> \u2014 A Minnesota pardon has drawn sharp criticism from federal immigration officials.<\/p>\n

The Minnesota Clemency Review Commission voted on June 10, 2026, to pardon Tou Lue Vang, 42.<\/p>\n

Vang pleaded guilty in 2005 to first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a child under 13.<\/p>\n

Ramsey County District Court imposed a 144-month sentence in February 2006.<\/p>\n

However, the prison term was stayed.<\/p>\n

Vang served time at the Ramsey County Workhouse. He also received 30 years of supervised probation.<\/p>\n

His probation ended in March 2019.<\/p>\n

DHS Says Pardon Could Affect Removal<\/h2>\n

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security<\/a> condemned the pardon this week.<\/p>\n

DHS said the pardon may remove the conviction supporting Vang\u2019s deportation case.<\/p>\n

According to DHS, Vang entered the United States through California in 1994.<\/p>\n

Federal officials said his legal status was later revoked following the conviction.<\/p>\n

An immigration judge issued a final removal order on October 31, 2006, DHS said.<\/p>\n

Federal officials said Vang was scheduled for removal within weeks of the pardon.<\/p>\n

\"Tou
Tou Lue Vang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pardon Application Began in 2025<\/h2>\n

Court records show Vang applied for a pardon on July 21, 2025.<\/p>\n

The commission notified Ramsey County District Court Judge Sara Grewing in December 2025.<\/p>\n

Grewing took no position on the request.<\/p>\n

The commission requested court records in January 2026.<\/p>\n

It held Vang\u2019s clemency hearing on April 3, 2026.<\/p>\n

A letter confirming the pardon was dated June 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

More information is available through the Minnesota Clemency Review Commission<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Federal and Political Responses<\/h2>\n

DHS accused Governor Tim Walz of supporting a pardon that could stop Vang\u2019s removal.<\/p>\n

The department also repeated allegations about statements Vang made during a police interview.<\/p>\n

Those claims were attributed to DHS. They were not independently verified in the original report.<\/p>\n

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/a> also criticized the timing.<\/p>\n

ICE said the pardon came shortly before Vang\u2019s planned removal.<\/p>\n

Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth also condemned the decision.<\/p>\n

Demuth said the pardon showed weak public safety policies from Democratic leaders.<\/p>\n

DHS also cited a separate May pardon involving Jai Vang.<\/p>\n

The department said that the case involved robbery, armed robbery, and impaired driving convictions.<\/p>\n

No connection between Tou Lue Vang and Jai Vang was stated in the provided records.<\/p>\n

I’m Chris Harper, reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DHS criticizes Minnesota’s pardon of Tou Lue Vang, saying it could erase the conviction behind his pending federal deportation order.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[772,9114,10307,8301,1686,9082],"class_list":["post-36002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-crime","tag-deportation","tag-dispute","tag-pardon","tag-paul","tag-sparks","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36002"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36294,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36002\/revisions\/36294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}