Tim Walz Retaliates Against Rubio Deportation
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made two decisions in recent weeks that have drawn renewed criticism from his political opponents: recalling members of the Minnesota National Guard from Washington, D.C., and granting a pardon to a convicted sex offender whose immigration status later became the focus of federal action.
The two developments unfolded within days of one another.
According to NPR, Walz announced Saturday that he was bringing home approximately 100 Minnesota National Guard members who had been deployed to Washington ahead of the Independence Day celebrations. The deployment had been expected to last through July 23.
President Donald Trump had expanded the National Guard's presence in the nation's capital as part of an effort to combat crime, with reports indicating that more than 5,000 Guard members were serving there at a cost of roughly $3 million per day.
Walz emphasized that Minnesota's Guard members had been sent specifically to support Fourth of July events. Under Title 32 of the U.S. Code, National Guard personnel operating in that status remain under the command of their state's governor even while receiving federal funding.
According to NPR, Walz concluded that Minnesota's troops were being assigned to patrol duties outside the scope of their original mission and ordered them home.
Minnesota was one of several states led by Democratic governors—including Michigan, Maryland, Hawaii, North Carolina, and Kentucky—that contributed Guard members to the effort.
The timing of Walz's decision has attracted attention because it came shortly after another controversy involving his administration.
On July 1, the Department of Homeland Security announced that Walz, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson had voted as members of the state's pardon board to grant clemency to Tou Lue Vang.
Vang, now 42, was convicted in 2006 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving the abuse of a 10-year-old girl between 2002 and 2004.
According to DHS, Vang came to the United States in 1994 after receiving legal status during the Clinton administration. During the criminal proceedings, he reportedly described his conduct as a "cultural thing."
The pardon carried immigration consequences.
Federal officials argued that Vang's criminal conviction had rendered him removable from the United States, while the pardon complicated that process under existing immigration law.
On Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the federal government had terminated Vang's legal status, allowing deportation proceedings to move forward.
"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," Rubio said.
"Tou Lue Vang admitted to committing heinous crimes against a 10-year-old girl in Minnesota. He attempted to pay his victim for her silence and dismissed his acts of child abuse as a 'minor thing.'"
Rubio continued, "Just days before he was scheduled to be deported, the Minnesota Governor pardoned him, setting him free to endanger American families once again."
Critics of Walz argue that the pardon reflected poor judgment and unnecessarily complicated the federal government's effort to remove Vang from the country. They also contend that recalling Minnesota's National Guard contingent from Washington created unfavorable political optics, given the administration's emphasis on public safety in the capital.
Supporters of Walz, meanwhile, have pointed to the governor's authority over Minnesota's National Guard under Title 32 and his stated position that the deployment should remain limited to its original mission.
The two decisions nevertheless have become linked in the political conversation, with opponents portraying them as examples of misplaced priorities.