This comes after the State Department revoked the man's legal status just weeks after the man received a state pardon.
Tou Lue Vang, 42, who was from Laos, "has now been removed from our country and will never pose a threat to any American ever again," Rubio said
Rubio said the Laotian national had been scheduled for deportation until Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz granted him a pardon. Rubio said he then revoked Vang's legal status, allowing federal immigration authorities to remove him from the country.
Minnesota's Clemency Review Commission voted on June 10 to recommend a pardon for Vang, and Walz approved the recommendation under the state's clemency process.
Court filings said he offered the victim $10 to remain silent and later told investigators that "it is a cultural thing ... to marry and have sex with girls as young as 12." He also told investigators the victim "was just as guilty" and should be arrested.
According to the DHS, an immigration judge issued Vang a final order of removal on Oct. 31, 2006, after his conviction. DHS said Vang entered the United States in California in 1994, and later received legal status by the Clinton administration before losing that status following his conviction.
After the pardon, DHS argued the action could prevent Vang's removal and criticized the decision. Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said, “Governor Tim Walz's decision to pardon an illegal alien convicted child rapist so he can remain in our country is disgusting."
“Tou Lue Vang lost his legal status following his conviction for repeatedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl. Following the conviction, he was placed in removal proceedings and issued a final order of removal by a judge. This pardon will take away this child rapist’s qualifying convictions that made him removable from the United States," Bis said following the pardon.
Neither Walz's office nor the Minnesota Clemency Review Commission explained in the pardon documents why Vang received a pardon. However, the commission's letter to Vang said that obtaining the pardon was a “notable achievement” for him and that he would not be required to disclose his criminal conviction.