Walz questions whether deporting illegal immigrant who repeatedly molested 10-year-old girl was right thing to do

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz this week questioned the State Department's decision to deport an illegal immigrant who was convicted of repeatedly sexually molesting a 10-year-old girl, weeks after the governor was part of a panel that pardoned the illegal immigrant for the heinous crime. 

Last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Department of Homeland Security had arrested and deported Tou Lue Vang, who was convicted in 2006 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Vang had repeatedly sexually assaulted a young girl between 2002 and 2004. Shortly after his conviction in 2006, a judge issued a final order of removal, but Vang never left the country and has lived in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area ever since. He was arrested by ICE in December.

In June, Vang, 42, was granted a pardon by the Minnesota Board of Pardons and, earlier this month, a clemency board comprising Walz, a former vice presidential candidate, as well as Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Natalie Hudson, the state’s chief Supreme Court justice, gave the pardon final approval, prompting outrage from many. The pardon essentially shielded Vang from being deported days before he was set to be removed from the country. 

Rubio stepped in on July 10, issuing a statement saying he had personally revoked any legal status Vang may have enjoyed, clearing the way for his deportation. "He will never endanger another American," Rubio said, adding that the Trump administration "will always stand with the American people."

A photo released by the DHS showing Vang being deported from the U.S.

Earlier this week, Walz addressed Vang's deportation and the controversy surrounding his pardon publicly for the first time. 

“Did that make us any safer? Did that make the children that are left behind any more stable?" Walz said while speaking with reporters, and referring to Vang's children. "Did it improve the idea that we can’t all be judged by our worst day? And I want to be very clear,” Walz continued, “these are horrific crimes. They often are.”

Lisa Demuth, Minnesota's House Speaker, responded to Walz's comments on the deportation and the initial pardon, expressing views that summed up the sentiment coming from many who were outraged by clemency shown toward a convicted pedophile. 

"Tim Walz and Keith Ellison have failed Minnesotans in so many ways. This is a disgusting double down attempt by Walz to explain away his vote to pardon a child sex offender," said Demuth, who is running to succeed Walz as governor, in a post on X. "That Amy Klobuchar hasn't condemned the latest from Walz here is on brand and not surprising," she said about the U.S. senator, who is also running for Minnesota governor. Watch a clip of Walz's comments below.