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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has blasted New York Governor Kathy Hochul after she secretly pardoned a Laotian killer to prevent him from being deported.
Somchith Vatthanavong, 52, was convicted of manslaughter as a teenager after he admitted to fatally shooting a man in 1988 during a confrontation at a Brooklyn pool hall. He argued he had acted in self-defense.
Vatthanavong legally entered the United States as a refugee when he was a child, in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. He served 14 years in prison before being released in 2003.
President Trump’s return to power made it more likely Vatthanavong would be deported, so his family and community groups launched a campaign to persuade Governor Hochul to pardon him.
On July 1, a day before he was due to attend an immigration appointment that his lawyers believed would lead to his arrest, Governor Hochul granted him an unconditional pardon.
The pardon was made public by The New York Times on Friday, which prompted an angry response from the Department of Homeland Security on X.
“@GovKathyHochul, your shameful secret is out. Rather than putting New Yorkers first, you’re protecting a criminal illegal alien KILLER with a rap sheet including convictions for manslaughter and criminal possession of a firearm. If you are a convicted criminal alien, you should not have the privilege to be in this country. President Trump and @Sec_Noem will continue fighting to protect every American citizen and remove the worst of the worst from our nation.”
Governor Hochul defended her actions by invoking the example of the Bible.
“One of the toughest calls a governor can make is when another person’s fate is in their hands. Unless I believe someone poses a danger, I follow what the Bible tells us: ‘Forgive one another as God in Christ forgave you.’ They’ve paid their debt, and I’ll be damned if I let them be deported to a country where they don’t know a soul. And to those who would demonize them to score political points, I ask: Where is your compassion?”
