Gov. Walz pardons Jai Vang before possible deportation to Laos

Gov. Walz pardons Jai Vang to avoid deportation to Laos

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has pardoned a man taken into ICE custody during Operation Metro Surge before he could potentially be deported to Laos, his native country. Jai Vang was taken into ICE custody earlier this month. He was arrested and convicted of aiding and abetting armed robbery in 1994.

(FOX 9) - Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday pardoned a man taken into ICE custody during Operation Metro Surge before he could potentially be deported to Laos, his native country.

Jai Vang arrested in 1994 for armed robbery

The backstory:

Jai Vang was arrested, tried and convicted of aiding and abetting armed robbery in an October 1994 incident in Hennepin County, when he was 18 years old.

Walz on Wednesday held a special meeting of the Board of Pardons, joined by Natalie Hudson, chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, and Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Walz said his office was notified on May 14 that Vang was taken into ICE custody and set to be deported in June, before the next meeting of the Board of Pardons.

Vang had applied for a pardon to avoid deportation, which was unanimously recommended by the Clemency Review Commission.

Jai Vang pardoned unanimously

Why you should care:

Walz, Ellison, Hudson and the Clemency Review Commission voted unanimously to pardon Vang.

Since serving his sentence, Vang started a family and now owns his own business as a painter and carpenter. He has also lived a life free of crime since.

What they're saying:

"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.

"It’s clear that Mr. Vang has become an upstanding citizen, working consistently over the past 27 years, forming his own company as painter and carpenter," Hudson said.