A Laotian man pardoned by state officials in Minnesota last month has been deported from the country, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has announced.
Tou Lue Vang, an immigrant from Laos, faced deportation for a 2006 conviction of first-degree criminal sexual conduct after raping a young girl between 2002 and 2004. Because Laos initially refused to accept deportees, Vang spent nearly two decades living in Minnesota.