Minnesota commission grants pardon to Twin Cities man aiming to avoid deportation
The Minnesota Board of Pardons says it has granted a pardon to a Twin Cities man in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention who is working to avoid deportation.
Laotian refugee At "Ricky" Chandee was convicted of second-degree assault over 30 years ago when he was 18. He was detained by ICE agents during Operation Metro Surge in January because of the case.
After serving his sentence and paying restitution, Chandee has had zero run-ins with law enforcement.
Chandee's family, with the help of his team of attorneys, filed to have his conviction pardoned in hopes that it would lead to his release from ICE custody. The Minnesota Clemency Review Commission reviewed his case during a hearing on Friday and voted 6-0 in favor of recommending that the Board of Pardons grant him a pardon.
The Board of Pardons, which consists of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, unanimously granted the request during an emergency meeting on Monday morning.
One of Chandee's attorneys told WCCO after the pardon was granted that a judge with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of deportation for two weeks. Chandee, who is at a detention facility in Louisiana, was previously scheduled to be deported on Tuesday.
Walz convened the meeting because the board's next regular session wasn't scheduled until June.
"The federal government says they're targeting the 'worst of the worst,' but instead they're tearing a father and public servant away from his family over a mistake from more than 30 years ago," Walz said in a written statement. "This is not about public safety; it's a campaign of retribution that uses heavy-handed tactics to target people who have already paid their debt and built their lives here in Minnesota."
State officials said in a news release that the federal government's legal basis for his deportation may be removed with the pardon now granted.
NOTE: The attached video aired before Monday's emergency meeting.