Rubio Revokes Legal Status of Walz-Pardoned Child Predator, Ensuring Deportation
Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week revoked the legal status of Laotian national Tou Lue Vang, a convicted child sex predator pardoned last month by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, paving the way for federal agents to arrest and deport him from the United States.
The move comes just weeks after the Minnesota Board of Pardons — which includes Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Chief Justice Natalie Hudson — unanimously granted clemency to Vang on June 10, effectively wiping his criminal record and potentially shielding him from longstanding deportation orders.
Vang, who arrived in the U.S. as a child refugee from Laos in 1994, was convicted in 2006 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for repeatedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl between 2002 and approximately 2005.
Court records show he pleaded guilty in a deal that spared him prison time but resulted in a stayed 12-year sentence, eight months in a county workhouse, and 30 years of supervised probation, which was discharged in 2019.
He reportedly attempted to pay his victim for her silence and later described the crimes as “minor things.”
Following his conviction, Vang lost his legal status and was placed in removal proceedings.
An immigration judge issued a final order of removal in 2006.
He was facing imminent deportation when the pardon was granted, which critics say was designed to strip away the convictions that made him removable under federal law.
In a video posted to X, Rubio detailed the administration’s response: “Just weeks ago, a foreign child rapist was freed to once again endanger America’s children after receiving a pardon from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Just days before he was scheduled to be deported, the Minnesota Governor pardoned him, setting him free to endanger American families once again. 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. Because of our action, this foreign criminal will never pose a threat to any American ever again.”
Rubio added that Vang “even tried to pay his victim for her silence” and referred to the crimes as “minor things.”
He told Fox News Digital that “Americans should never have to live in fear that foreign sex predators — shielded from deportation by their own elected officials — could endanger them or their children. That’s why I terminated his legal status in the United States. Vang has now been removed from our country and will never pose a threat to any American ever again.”
The Department of Homeland Security condemned the pardon, with Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis stating: “Governor Tim Walz’s decision to pardon an illegal alien convicted child rapist so he can remain in our country is disgusting. These are the criminal illegal aliens he and his Minnesota sanctuary politicians are protecting. Tou Lue Vang lost his legal status following his conviction for repeatedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl. Following the conviction, he was placed in removal proceedings and issued a final order of removal by a judge. This pardon will take away this child rapist’s qualifying convictions that made him removable from the United States.”
The pardon has drawn sharp bipartisan criticism, with Minnesota House Republican Floor Leader Harry Niska calling it “despicable” and “morally indefensible,” accusing Walz and Ellison of putting criminals ahead of public safety and using clemency to obstruct federal immigration enforcement.
Rubio’s revocation of Vang’s legal status underscores the Trump administration’s commitment to restoring federal authority over immigration and prioritizing the removal of dangerous criminal aliens.
State pardons, while restoring certain civil rights under state law, do not automatically erase immigration consequences under federal statute.
By acting decisively, Rubio ensured that Walz’s clemency did not create a loophole allowing a convicted child predator to remain in the country.
Trump ‘Briefed With Options’ Amid Stalled Iran Talks
The Trump administration on Wednesday continued to express optimism about negotiations with Iran, even as Iranian officials insist that no direct talks have taken place, according to reports.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister said no face-to-face meeting had occurred in Doha and that no direct negotiations with the United States were currently planned.
Despite Tehran’s position, President Donald Trump described the discussions as “very good,” apparently referring to indirect contacts involving U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner communicating through third-party intermediaries.
Vice President JD Vance struck a firmer tone the same day, warning that the United States could escalate its response if Iran refuses to cooperate or takes actions that further destabilize the Middle East.
His remarks underscored the administration’s message that while it remains open to a diplomatic resolution, additional measures remain on the table if negotiations fail.
“If Iran attempts to rebuild its nuclear program, threaten its neighbors and support terrorism, President Trump has options to deal with it,” Vance noted, without elaborating.
Earlier, a Wall Street Journal report claimed that Trump had been briefed on several military options, including “all-out war,” but Trump said he wanted to give diplomacy more time.
Vance additionally stated that the US “dropped bombs on Iran because it fired on ships, and we used leverage to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.”
He went on to suggest that the U.S. could take that course of action again.
Vance also said the current talks are “to discuss the details and flow of maritime traffic.”
The vice president, addressing U.S. military personnel at a naval base in Virginia on Wednesday, also said that Iran’s nuclear program has been set back decades.
“If you look at what our own intelligence says about their nuclear program, they are further away from developing a nuclear bomb than they have ever been since basically the last 20 or 30 years,” Vance said, though he stopped short of Trump’s claim that the program had been “totally obliterated.”
“What the president asks you to accomplish is to destroy the defense industrial base of that country, so that if they ever decided to rebuild their military, or if they ever decided to rebuild that nuclear program, they would be harmless to do it. You did that exactly as well,” Vance added, per the Times of Israel.
The VP went on to say that Trump is now “negotiating from a position of strength because of you.”
“If the Iranians try to rebuild the nuclear program, the President’s got options. If the Iranians try to threaten their neighbors or fund terrorism, we’ve got options,” Vance continued.
“But what we must never do is drop bombs just for the sake of dropping bombs. And that is what the president will never ask you to do,” Vance added.
“He’ll ask you to go to war, yes. But when he asks you to go to war, he’ll tell you exactly what you’re going for,” the veep noted further.
“And I think that is what you should expect out of your political leadership.”
“What I noticed about the people who are attacking the administration for negotiating is that they are the very same people who, for example, encouraged us to just go a little bit further and just drop a few more bombs in places like Afghanistan,” he said.
“If you go back to the mistakes that were made, those very same people refused to say what we were dropping bombs for,” he added.
“We dropped some bombs a couple of days ago… Because the Iranians were shooting at commercial ships… We applied some leverage, and we’ve had free commercial transit for the last three days,” Vance told the naval personnel.
UPDATE: House Passes Key Bill In Nod To Trump Admin
Washington — In a closely watched vote, the U.S. House of Representatives has approved the SPEED Act, legislation aimed at accelerating federal permitting for large-scale artificial intelligence data centers and supporting power projects.
The bill passed Friday by a narrow 218-to-213 margin, highlighting sharp partisan divides even as lawmakers on both sides recognize AI’s critical role in national security and economic competitiveness.
The SPEED Act targets reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. It would shorten environmental reviews that have stalled major construction projects for years and cut the statute of limitations for related lawsuits from six years down to just 150 days.
Supporters argue these changes are essential to meet exploding demand for data centers and reliable energy as AI technologies advance rapidly.
Republican lead sponsor Rep. Bruce Westerman of Arkansas called the measure a national imperative: “The expansion of AI computing power for both civilian and military use is a national imperative.” He stressed the need for the U.S. to maintain its technological edge, especially against China.
The legislation drew public support from major tech players including OpenAI, Micron, and Microsoft.
Passage came after last-minute drama. Some conservative Republicans pushed for amendments protecting prior executive actions on offshore wind and other green energy limits. Democrats largely opposed the final version, with Rep. Scott Peters of California warning it codifies a “broken permitting status quo.” He said a more bipartisan approach may need to come from the Senate.
The House action pairs with a new Trump administration initiative: the U.S. Tech Force. This two-year program will recruit about 1,000 engineers and technical experts to modernize federal AI systems in partnership with companies like Amazon Web Services, Apple, Google, Nvidia, Oracle, and Palantir.
Together, the SPEED Act and Tech Force aim to address two major bottlenecks for American AI leadership: regulatory delays and specialized talent shortages. The bill now heads to the Senate, where further negotiations are expected.
This development intensifies the national debate over balancing rapid AI growth with environmental safeguards and partisan priorities in the race for global technological supremacy.
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