Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) AP file
ST. PAUL, Minn. (KFGO/WCCO) – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has pardoned a man taken into ICE custody during Operation Metro Surge before he could potentially be deported to Laos.
Jai Vang was taken into ICE custody earlier this month. In 1994 when he was 18, Vang was arrested and convicted of aiding and abetting armed robbery.
“To preserve and assert Minnesota’s sovereign state interest in enforcing our own criminal laws, and the constitutional rights through the clemency process, I’ve called this meeting to consider the application,” Walz said Wednesday.
Walz was joined by Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in approving the pardon.
“Over the past 30-plus years, Mr. Vang has started a family,” Walz said. “He’s become a critical member of the community, and he has lived a life without any serious criminal violations since that time.”
Vang was to have been deported within days of the pardon.
“Immigration status or pending deportation is not a reason in and of itself for the granting of a pardon, but in Mr. Vang’s case, I would state this, that I can find no reason how Minnesota will be safer or better if Mr. Vang is deported to a country he has not been to since he was a child,” Walz added.
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