The Minnesota Board of Pardons has given a full pardon to Tou Lue Vang, a citizen of Laos who was convicted of child sexual abuse. This decision has stopped his immediate deportation from the United States.

明尼蘇達州赦免委員會已正式赦免一名被裁定性侵兒童的老撾公民 Tou Lue Vang。這項決定阻止了他立即被美國驅逐出境。

On June 10, Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Chief Justice Natalie Hudson approved the pardon. This action followed a recommendation from the Clemency Review Commission and support letters from Vang's family, community leaders, and the victim. Vang arrived in the U.S. in 1994 and was convicted in 2006 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a ten-year-old girl. Although he did not go to prison due to a legal agreement, his legal status was cancelled, and a deportation order was issued in October 2006.

6 月 10 日，州長 Tim Walz、檢察總長 Keith Ellison 及最高法院首席大法官 Natalie Hudson 批准了此次赦免。此舉是根據赦免審查委員會的建議，以及 Vang 的家人、社區領袖和受害者的支持信而採取。Vang 於 1994 年抵達美國，並於 2006 年被裁定對一名 10 歲女孩犯有第一級刑事性行為。雖然他因法律協議而未入獄，但其合法身份被取消，並於 2006 年 10 月收到驅逐令。

For many years, Vang could not be deported because the Laotian government refused to accept people being sent back. However, a diplomatic change in 2025 allowed these transfers to start again. Consequently, Vang was arrested in December and was scheduled for deportation just one week before the pardon was granted. While Vang initially tried to justify his actions as a cultural norm, he later wrote letters to the board expressing deep regret and highlighting his steady work as a machine operator and cashier.

多年來，由於老撾政府拒絕接收被遣返的人員，Vang 無法被驅逐。然而，2025 年的外交變革使得這些遣返程序重新開始。因此，Vang 於 12 月被逮捕，且在赦免令頒布前一週原定被驅逐出境。Vang 最初試圖將其行為解釋為文化慣例，但隨後他寫信給委員會，表達深切悔意，並強調他一直穩定地擔任機械操作員和收銀員的工作。

This decision has caused a serious conflict between state and federal authorities. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) asserted that the pardon is a strategic move by state leaders to interfere with federal immigration laws. DHS officials claimed that the state is protecting violent offenders, noting that another Laotian national convicted of armed robbery had also been pardoned. In contrast, Attorney General Ellison's office emphasized that the decision was based on a thorough review of the evidence and the victim's wishes.

這項決定導致州政府與聯邦當局之間產生嚴重衝突。國土安全部（DHS）聲稱，此次赦免是州領導人企圖干預聯邦移民法的策略性舉動。DHS 官員指控州政府在保護暴力罪犯，並指出另一名被裁定持械搶劫的老撾國民同樣獲得了赦免。相反，檢察總長 Ellison 的辦公室強調，此決定是基於對證據以及受害者意願的全面審查。

The pardon has effectively cleared Vang's criminal record. This provides a legal reason for him to challenge his deportation and increases the political tension between Minnesota's government and federal immigration officials.

此次赦免有效地清除了 Vang 的刑事紀錄。這為他挑戰被驅逐出境提供了法律理由，並增加了明尼蘇達州政府與聯邦移民官員之間的政治緊張局勢。