Walz board issues emergency pardon to halt Metro Surge deportation
Minnesota's Board of Pardons unanimously granted an emergency pardon Monday to "Ricky" Chandee, halting his scheduled deportation and aiming to remove the federal legal basis for his removal. The emergency pardon was reported by FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul and followed a unanimous recommendation from the Clemency Review Commission.
Chandee, a refugee from Laos who has worked nearly three decades in engineering for the City of Minneapolis, was seized by ICE in January during Operation Metro Surge after he applied for a pardon. He has a son serving in the U.S. Air Force and faces deportation over a 1993 assault conviction he received at age 18. The Clemency Review Commission had unanimously recommended a pardon last week. ICE moved him from Texas to Louisiana and had set a Tuesday deportation date before the pardon, officials said.
The episode traces back to a 2022 federal probe into fraud in Minnesota's Feeding Our Future child nutrition program, which prompted wider scrutiny of immigrant networks in the Twin Cities. That fallout helped prompt Operation Metro Surge in December 2025, a federal enforcement push that used about 3,000 federal agents and led to more than 4,000 arrests between December 2025 and February 2026. Federal data show less than a quarter of those arrested were classed as having serious criminal convictions, and reports say agents shot at least three people, two fatally, during the campaign. State pardons can erase some federal deportation grounds, but only if the pardon is full and unconditional and applies to the specific removable offense.
Gov. Tim Walz defended the emergency meeting and pardon on social media, saying federal enforcement was wrongly targeting reformed community members like Chandee. Critics pushed back online, calling for transparency about the underlying conviction and arguing the pardon shields a convicted felon, while officials note the pardon may remove the federal basis for deportation but cannot force ICE to release him.
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📊 Relevant Data
Operation Metro Surge is a federal immigration enforcement operation that began in December 2025 in Minnesota, involving approximately 3,000 federal agents and resulting in over 4,000 arrests, with less than a quarter of those arrested classified as having serious criminal convictions according to federal data. ([Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/02/20/a-chronology-of-operation-metro-surge)) ([Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/02/20/a-chronology-of-operation-metro-surge)) ([Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/02/20/a-chronology-of-operation-metro-surge)) ([Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/02/20/a-chronology-of-operation-metro-surge)) ([Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/02/20/a-chronology-of-operation-metro-surge)) ([Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/02/20/a-chronology-of-operation-metro-surge)) ([Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/02/20/a-chronology-of-operation-metro-surge))
A timeline of Operation Metro Surge — Minnesota Reformer
During Operation Metro Surge, DHS agents shot at least three people, two of whom died, amid reports of violent interactions. ([Immigrant Legal Resource Center](https://www.ilrc.org/immigration-enforcement/federal-tracking/large-scale-raids/minneapolis-mn-operation-metro-surge)) ([Immigrant Legal Resource Center](https://www.ilrc.org/immigration-enforcement/federal-tracking/large-scale-raids/minneapolis-mn-operation-metro-surge)) ([Immigrant Legal Resource Center](https://www.ilrc.org/immigration-enforcement/federal-tracking/large-scale-raids/minneapolis-mn-operation-metro-surge)) ([Immigrant Legal Resource Center](https://www.ilrc.org/immigration-enforcement/federal-tracking/large-scale-raids/minneapolis-mn-operation-metro-surge)) ([Immigrant Legal Resource Center](https://www.ilrc.org/immigration-enforcement/federal-tracking/large-scale-raids/minneapolis-mn-operation-metro-surge)) ([Immigrant Legal Resource Center](https://www.ilrc.org/immigration-enforcement/federal-tracking/large-scale-raids/minneapolis-mn-operation-metro-surge)) ([Immigrant Legal Resource Center](https://www.ilrc.org/immigration-enforcement/federal-tracking/large-scale-raids/minneapolis-mn-operation-metro-surge))
Minneapolis, MN: Operation Metro Surge — Immigrant Legal Resource Center
State gubernatorial pardons can waive deportability for certain criminal grounds under federal immigration law, such as crimes involving moral turpitude, but only if the pardon is full and unconditional, and they do not affect all categories of removable offenses. ([UC Davis Law Review](https://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk15026/files/media/documents/46-2_Cade.pdf)) ([UC Davis Law Review](https://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk15026/files/media/documents/46-2_Cade.pdf)) ([UC Davis Law Review](https://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk15026/files/media/documents/46-2_Cade.pdf)) ([UC Davis Law Review](https://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk15026/files/media/documents/46-2_Cade.pdf)) ([UC Davis Law Review](https://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk15026/files/media/documents/46-2_Cade.pdf)) ([UC Davis Law Review](https://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk15026/files/media/documents/46-2_Cade.pdf)) ([UC Davis Law Review](https://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk15026/files/media/documents/46-2_Cade.pdf))
Deporting the Pardoned — UC Davis Law Review
Approximately 17,000 Southeast Asian Americans, including Laotian refugees, have final orders of removal largely tied to past criminal convictions, with increased deportations following U.S. policy shifts allowing removals to Laos. ([The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/29/ice-deportation-south-east-asians-vietnam-war)) ([The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/29/ice-deportation-south-east-asians-vietnam-war)) ([The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/29/ice-deportation-south-east-asians-vietnam-war)) ([The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/29/ice-deportation-south-east-asians-vietnam-war)) ([The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/29/ice-deportation-south-east-asians-vietnam-war)) ([The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/29/ice-deportation-south-east-asians-vietnam-war)) ([The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/29/ice-deportation-south-east-asians-vietnam-war))
Ice's deportations of south-east Asian refugees creating 'lifelong separation' — The Guardian
📌 Key Facts
- At "Ricky" Chandee, a refugee from Laos, faced deportation this Tuesday based on a 1993 assault conviction he received at age 18.
- Chandee has worked nearly three decades in engineering for the City of Minneapolis and has a son serving in the U.S. Air Force.
- He was picked up by ICE in January during Operation Metro Surge after applying for a pardon earlier that month.
- The Clemency Review Commission unanimously recommended pardon last week, but ICE transferred Chandee from Texas to Louisiana and set a Tuesday deportation date.
- Gov. Tim Walz called an emergency Board of Pardons meeting Monday; the board unanimously granted clemency, which the governor’s office says should remove the federal legal basis for his deportation.
- It is still unknown when ICE will release Chandee and allow him to return to Minnesota.
📰 Source Timeline (1)
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