An emergency meeting of Minnesota’s Board of Pardons on Monday threw a last-minute lifeline to At "Ricky" Chandee, a longtime City of Minneapolis engineering technician who had been staring down deportation over a 1993 conviction. The board granted him a full pardon as federal authorities moved ahead with a removal tied to that decades-old case. Family members and coworkers had been pressing state officials to act after Chandee was swept up in an ICE operation earlier this year.
Gov. Tim Walz called the emergency session at the State Capitol, and the board voted unanimously to grant clemency. He framed the decision as an effort to keep a Minnesota family intact rather than inflict more punishment. "The federal government says they're targeting the 'worst of the worst'," Walz said, according to FOX 9. A state release said the pardon could remove the federal legal basis for deporting Chandee.
Clemency Review Moves Fast
Just days earlier, the state’s Clemency Review Commission had voted 6-0 to recommend a pardon after hearing from family, coworkers and community supporters, according to CBS Minnesota. The hearing room was packed, and Chandee’s son appeared by video from an Air Force base as witnesses described Chandee’s years of public service for the city.
From ICE Sweep To Emergency Session
Chandee was arrested in January in an enforcement action dubbed "Operation Metro Surge" and spent about 90 days in ICE custody before the pardon vote, local reporting said. MPR News reported that he was moved between detention facilities and that a deportation date had been set before state officials scrambled to intervene.
How A Pardon Plays In Immigration Court
In cases like this, a state pardon can erase or soften the conviction that federal officials use to justify removal, giving attorneys new ammunition to ask ICE and immigration courts to pull back. Attorney Nico Ratkowski told CBS Minnesota that a pardon can restore a person’s prior immigration status and serve as grounds for release, although it does not automatically compel federal authorities to act.
A Local Case In A National Crackdown
Chandee’s case is unfolding in the middle of a high-profile federal enforcement push and a national messaging campaign that has spotlighted arrests, sometimes tied to decades-old convictions, to portray detainees as "the worst of the worst." An investigation republished by LAist found that approach has raised questions about whether everyone being rounded up actually fits the administration’s stated priorities.
With Chandee’s pardon now on the books, state officials have said the legal foundation for his deportation may be wiped away. But it remained unclear when or whether ICE would release him back to Minnesota, FOX 9 reported. Supporters are hoping the emergency move speeds his return home, but so far federal officials have not put any timetable on what happens next.
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