What to Know
- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has pardoned seven people who had faced deportation because of crimes committed years ago
- The Democrat says the state must protect its residents as the federal government wages what he calls an un-American assault on immigrants
- The governor's office says the seven people pardoned all turned their lives around following minor criminal convictions years ago
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has pardoned seven people who had faced deportation because of crimes committed years ago.
The Democrat announced the pardons on Monday, saying the state must protect its residents as the federal government wages what he calls an un-American assault on immigrants. The pardons are intended to prevent deportation or at least make it harder for federal immigration officials to proceed with the process.
The governor's office says the seven people pardoned all turned their lives around following minor criminal convictions years ago.
"At a time when President Trump and the Federal government are waging a war on our immigrant communities, New York stands firm in our belief that our diversity is our greatest strength," Cuomo said in a statment, adding that the pardon was given to each recipient "in recognition of their rehabilitative efforts and to remove the barriers that their criminal records present to their immigration status."
Those pardoned includes a 57-year-old grandfather who was convicted of drug possession and intoxicated driving nearly 20 years ago and a 53-year-old man battling cancer who now faces deportation because of a 7-year-old conviction for attempted drug sales.
A single mother who went to a funeral in Jamaica and was allegedly detained upon her return for convictions of low-level assault and petit larceny 17 years ago was also pardoned.
Local
A 41-year-old man from the Dominican Republic who was detained by ICE after allegedly being told he was ineligible for citizenship due to a 2009 petit larceny conviction as he was about to go to his swearing-in ceremony in September of 2017 was also pardoned.
Three other menwho were convicted of drug possession, but have since been crime-free and employed — and in one case is the sole caretaker of his special needs daughter and in another spearheads humanitarian efforts — were also pardoned.
