Tim Walz pardons Laotian illegal alien convicted of armed robbery and facing deportation

Former vice-presidential candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz pardoned an illegal alien who was convicted of armed robbery before he could be deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minnesota.

Jai Vang, an illegal alien attempting to avoid being deported back to his home country of Laos, was pardoned unanimously by Tim Walz, Keith Ellison and Natalie Hudson along with the Clemency Review Commission. Vang has a less than clean history with law enforcement. He was arrested and convicted of aiding and abetting a robbery in October 1994 in Minnesota at 18 years old, per Fox 9.

The governor said his office was made aware that Vang had been taken into custody to be deported in June by the federal government, before the next Board of Pardons meeting. Walz defended the action, stressing that he did not see how deporting the convicted robber would make the state any safer.

"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. I do not see how it would serve his family, nor the economic interest where we have a taxpaying citizen who is creating job growth and living a life free from any criminal activity," Walz said.

Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court Natalie Husdon went so far as to describe Vang inaccurately as a citizen and lauded him as a hard worker and a businessman.

Vang is not the first case in 2026 where Walz rushed to pardon an illegal with a violent past set to be deported. In early May, Walz pardoned Ricky Chandee who was convicted on a 1993 assault charge. Walz called the federal deportation efforts of Chandee “heavy handed.” The federal government has taken Chandee to federal detention in Texas where, despite his pardon, his fate remains uncertain.