DeFranco News Clips

Gov. Tim Walz Pardons Immigrant with Sexual Abuse Record

Watch the full Daily DeFranco Show: https://youtu.be/zkYGgb8euA0 Get More News Clips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpLB7kBu9O5dbBKhaIOmqcQ?sub_confirmation=1 Tim Walz is getting absolutely slammed right now for issuing what may be one of the most controversial pardons ever. Right, the pardon we’re talking about went to this man, Tou Vang - he’s a 42 year old immigrant from Thailand who came to the US as a child refugee in 1994. After that, he became a permanent resident and eventually settled in Minnesota. But in 2005, when he was roughly 18 years old, he was convicted of repeatedly sexually abusing a 10 year old girl. Despite initially trying to justify his actions, Vang ended up pleading guilty to avoid prison time and an immigration judge ordered his deportation to Laos. But at the time, Laos refused to accept deportees in large numbers so many people that would have been sent back there were allowed to stay in the US on supervised release. So here he stayed for the last 20 years. But then he was swept up in the ICE crackdown in Minnesota back in December and now, he’s facing deportation once again. So he filed for a pardon from the state - pointing to his decades of a clean record since his conviction as evidence of his rehabilitation. As well as expressing regret for his actions - saying he carries a deep shame and that if he could go back and change it, he would in a heartbeat. But more than his own words, the real deciding factor came from his victim - who submitted an unsigned statement asking the state to grant the pardon. Writing, “What happened to me was wrong, but I have had many years to think about this. I have made peace with it. I forgive him.” And so the Minnesota Board of Pardons - a 3-person panel including Governor Tim Walz, the state attorney general Keith Ellison, and the state’s Supreme Court justice, Natalie Hudson - granted the pardon. Essentially wiping Vang’s criminal record clean and giving him the chance to fight his deportation. As you can imagine, the backlash here has been massive - especially from the pro-deportation side of the internet. —————————— Produced by: Cory Ray, Philip DeFranco Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco ———————————— #TimWalz #US #Minnesota