DHS Slams Hochul Over Secret Pardon of Convicted Killer
“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.”
The Department of Homeland Security is blasting New York Governor Kathy Hochul for quietly pardoning a convicted killer to block his deportation, accusing her of putting a violent criminal alien ahead of law-abiding citizens.
DHS fired off a statement on social media exposing the governor’s secret pardon:
.@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… pic.twitter.com/anXAXECvjg
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) August 16, 2025
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.
According to the New York Times, Hochul signed the pardon on July 1 — the day before Vatthanavong’s immigration check-in, which his lawyers feared would lead to his detention and deportation.
On July 1 — the day before Mr. Vatthanavong had a mandatory immigration appointment that his lawyers believed would lead to his arrest — Ms. Hochul signed a certificate granting him an unconditional pardon, “including offering relief from removal.”
Vatthanavong’s criminal record stems from a deadly confrontation in Brooklyn in 1988, when he admitted to fatally shooting another man during a pool hall fight.
The man Ms. Hochul pardoned, Somchith Vatthanavong, 52, had been convicted of manslaughter as a teenager after he admitted to fatally shooting a man in 1988 during a confrontation at a Brooklyn pool hall, arguing that he had acted in self-defense.
Hochul’s office did not initially announce the pardon, unlike her past clemency decisions. Only after reporters pressed the issue did it come to light.
Ms. Hochul, a moderate Democrat who typically issues pardons in batches on a rolling basis, did not issue a news release when she pardoned Mr. Vatthanavong six weeks ago, as she had for many of the 94 people she had previously pardoned or whose sentences she had commuted.
A DHS spokeswoman told the paper bluntly that Vatthanavong would already be on a deportation flight “if not for Ms. Hochul’s intervention.” Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) condemned the move as “shameful” and evidence that the governor is “putting criminals and illegals first instead of law-abiding New Yorkers.”
Hochul, for her part, defended the pardon in religious terms:
“One of the toughest calls a governor can make is when another person’s fate is in their hands,” Ms. Hochul said in a statement on Friday. “Unless I believe someone poses a danger, I follow what the Bible tells us: ‘Forgive one another as God in Christ forgave you.’”
The contrast could not be sharper: President Trump and DHS have vowed to deport criminal aliens and protect Americans, while Hochul is using her pardon power to protect them, and doing it behind closed doors.
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Comments
Why would this stop the deportation? Send him home.
It stops his deportation because the only reason he was being deported was his conviction. No conviction, no reason to deport him.
“An undocumented immigrant does not need to be convicted of a crime to be deported. While certain criminal convictions can make an immigrant deportable, simply being present in the U.S. without authorization is grounds for deportation.”
Here’s why—Illegal Presence:
“Being in the U.S. without legal permission (undocumented or illegal presence) is a violation of immigration law, regardless of whether a crime has been committed.”
(Quoted from a liberal source)
First, it’s not clear that he is here illegally. Most reports are vague on that. But either way, the fact is that the only reason ICE had any interest in him was his conviction. That’s gone now, so they have no more reason to want to deport him, even if he is here illegally.
I have to say this time I’m with Millhouse.
What no one is saying is the fact that he was brought in at age 7 legally as a refugee from communist Laos.
So he is not an illegal alien.
This person got in a fight as a teen teenager and shot someone and claimed it was self-defense
The jury did not agree and convicted him
He served his sentence and has been out for 20 years and has not offended since.
To send a 52 year old man who has lived in America since he was seven to Laos seems to serve no purpose.
Especially as he served his sentence and has been out for decades without being arrested again.
Hochul is a Democrat, therefore pro-criminal illegal alien and anti-law-abiding American citizen.
Hochul is an idiot. The prime reason why she is governor is because Cuomo was an idiot as well. NY, CA, Ilinois, Oregon, Minnestoa, Washington, RI, Massachusetts, Hawaii – terminally stupid states with terminally stupid voters. I probably missed some like Connecticut and New Jersey.
The prime reason why she is governor is because Cuomo was an idiot as well and pissed a lot of people off by killing grandma.
FIFY
Not even.
The guy killed a lot of grandmas. But that excuse wasn’t good enough to retire him.
Patting a woman on the ass, though? REEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
Ms. Hochul, a moderate Democrat
———————-
Only a full on communist news rag like the garbage nyt can say that lie with a straight face.
“Hey, he only killed one guy; of course I pardoned him. He hasn’t killed anybody since he’s been in prison, so I know he’s safe to release into the community, which incidentally, I don’t personally live in.
I have a mansion with armed security 24/7. But good luck, anyway!”
First of all, he was convicted of manslaughter, not murder. He claimed it was self-defense; how sure are you that it wasn’t?
Second, he served his sentence and has already been in the community for 20 years without incident. So there’s no real reason to worry that he’ll suddenly take it into his head to harm someone. He’s no more likely to do that than any other person.
His father brought him here at the age of 7, as a genuine refugee from communism, from a refugee camp where his mother died. How does sending him back to Laos, where he knows no one, now at the age of 52, make any sense?
How does it make sense…because he’s an illegal alien who’s been unlawfully present in the USA for 45 years. Every illegal alien should be deported precisely b/c they are here illegally.
I’ll be damned if I accept the argument that b/c this guy has managed to successfully evade deportation for an extended period that this somehow washes away the possibility of deportation. That’s the same logic as saying a serial killer shouldn’t be arrested and charged b/c they’ve successfully evade LEO for decades.
This guy could have joined the Armed Forces and sought a green card/Citizenship. Could have left the USA and applied for lawful immigration. Could have used one of the multiple different visa programs allowing temporary entry and sought a green card.
Hell no to the idea that merely avoiding consequences for a long-term duration should somehow provide immunity. Not just him though, every single employer he ever worked for should be subjected to serious scrutiny on their past and present hiring practices. Did this guy have a fake ID? A stolen SSA #? Did he file taxes? Did he have a DL? I find it hard to believe this guy was here 45 years and didn’t at some point use fake/stolen identity or always dotted every I, crossed every T in his paperwork.
How sure are you that he is illegally present? Most news reports are being very vague about that. Even the Post only mentions it casually, not as a positive factual assertion; and the Post is given to making assumptions of its own without any evidentiary basis.
I’m going off the info provided here which includes a DHS statement declaring him to be an illegal alien.
Relief from removal? She has no authority to do that.
She has the authority to remove his conviction, which was the only reason ICE wanted to deport him.
as I recall… a governor’s pardon is only efficacious in that state? So should Mr. Vatthanavong leave the state, all bets are off?
ICE doesn’t have to honor it IN that State.
His crime only happened in that state. In no other state does he have any criminal record.
No, he has a criminal record even if he is on the moon. He may not have been convicted of a crime in another state, but he still has a criminal record.
Maybe he will become a great writer just like Jack Abbott.
Marxists love criminals, they want them to Prey on citizens.
“Ms. Hochul, a moderate Democrat…”
Assumes facts not in evidence.
Well, it is the wretched Pravda on the Hudson propaganda rag we’re talking about, after all.
If the Pravda Times wasn’t dutifully carrying water for the Dhimmi-crats and their preferred Narratives(TM), something would be amiss.
It’s not a day ending in the letter “y,” if a Dhimmi-crat apparatchik, somewhere, isn’t dutifully toiling to coddle, protect and otherwise enable, criminal sociopaths — especially those “of color.”
“moderate democrat”
lmfao
Protection from removal? I don’t see how a state level authority can offer relief from federal action.
Deport him and arrest her for obstruction. If she claims she was acting within the capacity of her office, send her for a psych eval and prosecute anyway.
DO NOT LET HER OFF THE HOOK,
(For full transparency, I have lived my entire life in the state of New York and I would have uncontrollable giggles for days if Hochul got arrested for this!)
Yeah, I was wondering to what jurisdiction Hochul thinks her authority extends. Next thing she’ll be granting plenary indulgences to Baptists.
Also, since that part is outside her powers, she can’t have immunity for it. So, arrest, try, and anyone harmed can sue her personally.
Since what part is outside her powers? What crime has she committed? Pardoning his conviction is very much inside her powers, and she hasn’t done anything else.
Above all, why would you assume anyone would be harmed by this? Why is he more likely to harm someone than you or I or anyone else is? In what way is he more dangerous now than he has been for the last 20 years since he finished his sentence and has been living in the community? Why come after him now?
The only reason ICE wanted to deport him in the first place was because of his conviction. Now he has no conviction, so ICE has no reason to go after him.
I haven’t been able to find any definitive statement on whether his father brought him here from the refugee camp legally or illegally. The NY Post calls him an illegal immigrant, but it doesn’t explicitly say that he entered the country illegally; the NYP has admitted in court that it employs no fact checkers, and has been known to get tiny little details like that wrong. It was a time when we were taking in thousands of refugees from Laos, so in the absence of an explicit statement from any source that his entry was illegal I see no reason to assume that it was.
The reality is we live in an age where everything the left does is determined by the amount of resistance involved against Trump.
Leftists are all “we hate pedophiles” but the moment it’s a question that involves Trump removing a pedophile from America the answer from the left becomes “WE LOVE PEDOPHILES AND WILL DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO SUPPORT ALL PEDOPHILES!!!” 🤬
Did his victim get a pardon? Than why should he.
Do you say that for every pardon, including those issued by Trump????
Manslaughter is not a crime of violence, it’s a crime of negligence. He took insufficient care, and someone died as a result. In terms of severity of the crime it’s more severe than robbery, but in terms of danger posed to the community it’s a lot less.
“Manslaughter is not a crime of violence, it’s a crime of negligence.”
That statement is inaccurate, as manslaughter is generally considered a crime of violence under US law. Here’s why:
Violent Crime Category: Manslaughter is categorized alongside murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault as a violent crime by organizations like the FBI, according to the FBI’s definition of violent crime.
I don’t give a **** what it is “generally considered”. You can “generally consider” it a flying monkey for all I care. I am talking about FACTS, and you know yourself that in FACT it is not a crime of violence. It’s something that any of us could do in a careless moment, if we get unlucky.
You’ll REALLY have to find some stats that back that statement up, because claiming that causing a death by negligence or stupidity makes an offender somehow less dangerous than someone who kills with intent is just not supported by logic.
The victim’s status is the same regardless of whether the offender “meant to” or not. Dead is dead. The risk to the community is exactly the same as with a deliberate homicide.
In fact, to me, the likelihood of change in the behavior of someone who is so negligent that they caused someone to die is probably lower than in someone who killed with intent.
Drunk drivers are the perfect example. They re-offend in huge numbers unless forcibly contained, as exhibited in the days when DD was considered merely a driving infraction. They never “mean” to kill others, but they do, over and over.
It’s simple logic. A murderer is dangerous, because he’s a violent person. Even after he’s served his sentence, he’s still the same person as he was before. A manslaughterer is simply someone who got both careless and unlucky at the same time, and paid the price. Now he has better incentive to take care, and even if once in a while he doesn’t what are the chances he’ll get unlucky again at the same time?
Manslaughter is different from murder, as far as danger to the community is concerned, because we all have careless moments, and any of us could commit manslaughter if we get unlucky enough. It doesn’t take a criminal mentality, or a violent temper, or any of the things that make most of us not likely to commit most violent crimes.
Slightly off your line of argument, I find it telling that a)Hochul kept quiet about the pardon until an outside source pressed her on this issue, and b) the pardon was granted the day before the deportation process began.
Neither of these points are conclusive, but they are mighty suggestive. It makes me wonder how many more “secret pardons” are floating around out there? How does a pardon take effect, anyway? If I can use a real estate analogy, you may buy a house and give the seller cash, but until that sale is recorded in the county office, it hasn’t happened. It seems to me that pardons need to be “recorded” in the same way real property sales are. Otherwise ex presidents would be hauled into court, given a restaurant menu and asked “Did you write this pardon for Missy at the Silk Pussycat Motel?” I admit, this owuld be an amusing pastime for ex-presidents and govenors, but the cost in dignity would be high.
Your thoughts, please.
Pardons do not have to be recorded anywhere. They don’t even have to be given in writing, and they certainly don’t have to be signed. If someone is charged with a crime, and Biden shows up in court and tells the judge, “Oh yeah, I pardoned this person while I was president”, the case must be dropped. Of course the normal thing is to give the person a piece of paper he can use to prove it. Or to issue a blanket pardon for anyone who committed a certain crime between certain dates, so then if someone is charged with committing that crime between those dates they can cite the newspaper or whatever to show that they’re covered by the pardon. But that’s all a matter of evidence, not efficacy. The pardon itself is valid even if you can’t prove it, e.g. Biden genuinely pardoned you verbally while he was president, but he’s now in no position to come to court for you.
Please cite the data that support your assertion. I assert that someone who has received a ticket for driving 60 mph in a 50 mph zone is no more likely to cause a future accident than someone who habitually drives 10 mph below the speed limit. Guess whose rates the insurance companies will raise.
What the hell are you takling about? Negligence?
He got into an altercation and shot someone..
Where was his ‘negiligence’? Not understanding that it ISN’T self defense to shoot the person who’s annoying you?
He got manslaughter and not murder because it wasn’t clear to the jury who really started the fight.
If Hochul had any presidential ambitions, they are gone
If she even has any re-election ambitions she may have a challenge. She did not beat Zeldin by much last time. If Mamdani wins in NY City, as now seems likely, there may be a lot of “buyer’s remorse” by next year and the voters might want a check on him in Albany.
I doubt she’s ever had any serious presidential ambitions. I doubt she had any serious gubernatorial ambitions until Cuomo decided she’d make his ticket more attractive.
Hiding behind a Bible verse is twisted. One can forgive and still punish.
He’s already been punished. He’s paid the price for his negligence. And he’s been living a crime-free life for 20 years. Why do we even want to deport him, especially to a communist country where he knows no one and from which he fled as a small boy?
It’s not even clear that he is here illegally.
Governor Hochul
Wearing a face that she keeps
In a jar by the door.
Who is it for?
I find it interesting how Democrats ‘get religion’ when it serves to advance their agenda, but otherwise prefer Atheism.