Secretary of State Marco Rubio has intervened to deport a Laotian alien whom Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., pardoned for child ape to prevent his removal from the country.

Tue Lue Vang had been convicted in 2006 of repeatedly raping a minor. Walz had pardoned him this year to prevent his removal from the country. But Rubio intervened to terminate Vang's legal status and force his departure, he told Fox News.

"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," he said. "Tue 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.'"

At the time, Walz indicated a belief that it would not help the community to remove Vang to a nation he hadn't visited since childhood.

"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," he said at the time. "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."

Minnesota has been at the center of immigration enforcement controversies since the beginning of the year, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) surging to the city to crackdown on illegal immigration.

Separate revelations of large scale public welfare fraud linked to the Somali ex-pat community in Minneapolis added fuel to the fire and Walz declined to seek reelection.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent for Just the News. Follow him on X.