Overview
- The Minnesota Board of Pardons voted unanimously in an emergency session to pardon Xayasounethone Chandee, a Laotian national who came to the U.S. as a green card holder, with Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Chief Justice Natalie Hudson on the board.
- DHS condemned the decision, with acting assistant secretary Lauren Bis calling it “absolute INSANITY” and warning the pardon could undercut the legal basis for removal.
- A federal appeals court in Louisiana granted a 14-day stay of deportation after Chandee’s attorney filed for relief, and ICE continues to hold him in a Louisiana detention facility.
- DHS cites a 1992 assault conviction and claims two 2008 aggravated-assault-with-a-weapon convictions, while Chandee’s lawyer says the 2008 conviction does not exist and has asked DHS to explain the record.
- A state pardon can erase the state convictions used to justify deportation, yet it does not bind federal immigration authorities, and Chandee’s attorney said the government is likely to challenge the clemency in court.