Pedophile migrant is seen being marched onto plane by ICE after Minnesota Governor Tim Walz pardoned him to try and keep him in the US

By STEPHEN M. LEPORE, US SENIOR REPORTER Published: 02:52, 11 July 2026 | Updated: 02:52, 11 July 2026 An illegal migrant who was pardoned by Minnesota's Democratic governor for the rape of a ten-year-old girl in an apparent bid to allow him to remain in the country has been deported. Laotian pedophile Tou Lue Vang was photographed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) being escorted onto a plane by two agents Friday afternoon. DHS ripped Walz for trying to keep Vang in the country before explaining their efforts to deport him.  'ICE has DEPORTED Tou Vang, the illegal alien CHILD RAPIST @GovTimWalz pardoned in an attempt to allow him to remain in our country,' they said in a statement. 'While Walz and his fellow sanctuary politicians fight to protect heinous criminals like this, we will continue putting the safety of the American people FIRST.' DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin praised his team's efforts to get deport Vang. 'Sanctuary politicians put these horrific criminal illegals ahead of their own constituents every single day. It’s unforgivable,' he wrote on social media. 'Under @POTUS Trump, we are putting Americans FIRST, targeting the worst of the worst, and getting illegal aliens OFF our streets. If you are in the United States illegally, leave today, or we will find, arrest, and deport you.' Laotian pedophile Tou Lue Vang was photographed by the DHS being escorted onto a plane by two agents Friday afternoon DHS ripped Walz for trying to keep Vang in the country before explaining their efforts to deport him The Daily Mail has reached out to Governor Walz for comment.  The Secretary of State announced Vang's departure from the United States on Friday morning. Marco Rubio said in a video posted on X: 'Just weeks ago, a convicted sex offender and foreign national was shielded from deportation by the governor of Minnesota. 'Laotian national Tou Lue Vang was convicted of repeatedly sexually abusing a ten-year-old girl in the State of Minnesota.  'He even tried to pay his victim for her silence and he called his heinous crimes a 'minor thing'.  'Just days before this foreign sex offender was scheduled to be deported, Tim Walz, the governor, issued him a pardon, setting him free to once again endanger the children of America.  'Well, this week I revoked his legal status in the United States and as a result federal agents took him into custody and as of today he has been removed from the United States.'  It is unclear whether Vang has been flown back to Laos or taken elsewhere.  DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin praised his team's efforts to get Vang out of the country Tou Lue Vang, 42, was deported to Laos weeks after being pardoned by Minnesota's Democratic Governor Tim Walz despite his 2006 conviction for the rape of a ten-year-old girl Walz sparked outrage on June 10 after pardoning the 42-year-old over the 2005 assault which would have prevented him from being deported.  His apparent attempt to keep Vang in the country sparked nationwide fury and was branded 'disgusting' by Department of Homeland Security spokesman Lauren Bis. However the move ultimately drew federal attention to the case.  Rubio condemned Walz for what he said was a dereliction of duty to the safety of ordinary Americans. 'Because of our action, this foreign criminal will never pose a threat to any American ever again,' he said. 'Americans must never be forced by their elected leaders to live alongside foreign sex criminals who have no right to begin with to reside in our country.  'This administration will always stand with the American people and defend them from violent criminals.' Walz, a failed vice presidential candidate who ran alongside Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, said he had taken into account Vang's claim that his 'culture' allowed for sexual contact between adults and children.   Marco Rubio condemned Walz for what he said was a dereliction of duty to the safety of ordinary Americans Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the removal of a pedophile illegal migrant from the United States on Friday morning  But Rubio said the gravity of Vang's offenses merited his removal from the United States. 'He even tried to pay his victim for her silence,' Rubio added, 'and called those heinous crimes "minor things."' Vang entered the US illegally in 1994 under the Clinton administration which later granted him legal status. Vang's legal status was revoked on his conviction for raping the child in 2006. He attacked the youngster on repeated occasions between 2002 and 2005 and tried to pay her $10 to keep quiet about what he had done.   He was issued a final removal order the same year, but remained free until July last year until Trump's Operation Metro Surge targeted illegal migrants for deportation. Vang applied for his pardon last year and it was granted by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Walz after they read a letter from his victim pleading for him to be allowed to stay in the US.   DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin branded the pardon 'horrific.' 'This evil alien from Laos repeatedly sexually assaulted a ten-year-old child,' Mullin wrote on X. 'These are the illegal alien criminals sanctuary politicians like Tim Walz are protecting over American citizens.'