Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday said a child rapist from Minnesota was deported from the country after Gov. Tim Walz’s (D-MN) pardon of the sex offender removed the criminal sexual conduct conviction underlying his deportation order.

Walz was on the three-person panel that pardoned Tou Lue Vang in June, around a week before he was set to be deported from the United States following his apprehension by the Department of Homeland Security during “Operation Metro Surge” in December. The pardon stoked controversy as Vang was convicted of sex crimes against a 10-year-old girl, which he pleaded guilty to in 2005.