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“The Minnesota Board of Pardons granted clemency to Tou Lue Vang, a Laotian national convicted of repeatedly sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl, and U.S. federal authorities deported him anyway.”
Multiple credible outlets and DHS/ICE statements report that Minnesota’s Board of Pardons granted Tou Lue Vang clemency in June 2026 for a conviction involving repeated sexual abuse of a 10-year-old girl, and that federal authorities deported him afterward. The deportation is consistent with the fact that state clemency does not prevent federal immigration enforcement. The only notable caveat is that “Laotian national” may be interpreted imprecisely, but his Laotian citizenship and removability are supported.
“Deportations carried out under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump primarily targeted immigrants convicted of serious crimes.”
Available enforcement data does not show a deportation system mainly focused on immigrants convicted of serious crimes. Official Trump-era statistics often count any criminal history or even pending charges, and serious or violent offenders were only a small fraction of those removed. In some periods, large shares had no criminal conviction at all.