The Minnesota Board of Pardons granted clemency during a Monday emergency meeting to a man who was scheduled to be deported early this week.
At “Ricky” Chandee applied for a pardon before federal immigration agents arrested him at his home in Brooklyn Park in January. He was born in Laos and has a deportation order related to a 1992 conviction for second-degree assault.
The Clemency Review Commission, a group that recommends clemency decisions to the Board of Pardons, voted 6-0 to grant his pardon. The pardon board, which includes Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Natalie Hudson, was not scheduled to meet until June 10.
All three board members acknowledged they likely would have approved Chandee’s pardon at that meeting, but acted more quickly after learning he was scheduled to be deported in the next two days.
“There is nothing in this application, or nothing in the facts before us that would suggest that Mr. Chandee is a danger to the public in any way, shape or form,” Hudson said. “He has a lot of family support, which is obviously very important, and he's had that support over the last 29 years.”
A federal appeals court in Louisiana has paused Chandee’s deportation for 14 days in response to a request Chandee’s lawyer filed last week.
The federal government is likely to contest the pardon, according to his lawyer. The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to a request for comment.
Chandee was one of several immigrants who appeared before the Clemency Review Commission on Friday. He was scheduled to make his case over videoconference, but was unable to appear after being transferred the night before from a detention center in Texas to one in Louisiana.
Tim Blaylark, a family friend, read Chandee’s statement in his place. Family, friends and colleagues testified in support of his pardon and dozens of other supporters filled the room.
“My dad wanted me to live the life he never had and I believe my father has done very well in that,” Chandee’s son, Alex Xayasounethone, told the commission.
At least five other applicants with hearings on Friday said they are at risk of deportation and one, in addition to Chandee, is in ICE detention. The commission recommended clemency for all except one.
In that case, the group approved of pardoning some crimes but not a kidnapping conviction they viewed as more serious. Walz said the pardon board will look at each case “in its entirety.”
“Just an order for removal does not mean you’re going to be granted a pardon. It certainly depends on many factors, rehabilitation being one of those,” he said.
MPR News politics fellow Cait Kelley contributed reporting for this story.
