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Governor’s Deportation Review Panel, A Step In The Right Direction
Paterson May Offer Pardons To Legal Immigrants Convicted Of Certain Minor Criminal Offences Who Have
Established Roots In Communities
By Tony Best
“A step in the right direction.”
That summarizes the positive reaction to
a decisive move by New York Governor David
Paterson who is appointing a panel to advise
him on applications for pardons from some
legal immigrants facing deportation.
It’s a panel whose advice to the state’s
chief executive can affect hundreds if not thousands
of Caribbean immigrants from almost
every country in the region.
It will review cases of legal immigrants
who have applied for pardon and will make recommendations
to Paterson on people who
deserve a second chance after they had committed
crimes that didn’t trigger automatic
deportation when they occurred. Many of the
individuals Paterson has in mind are immigrants
whose actions early in life are now
being targeted for deportation because of a
change in federal immigration law.
“I support this measure for two key reasons,”
Congressman Edolphus “Ed” Towns,
Democrat of Brooklyn. “The first is because it
could lead to pardons for people who have
committed minor offences and who have shown
clear evidence of rehabilitation. That’s very
important. Secondly, in many cases it would
keep families together. If the main breadwinner
in the family is deported for a minor offence
committed a long time ago and has kept out of
trouble ever since then, the deportation causes a
breakup of the family unit and that’s not good
for legal immigrants. I am very supportive of
this initiative.”
As Congressman Towns, Chairman of the
influential Oversight Committee of the House
of Representative, sees it, the creation of the
panel is step in the right direction.
New York State Senator Kevin Parker
feels the same way.
“I think the Governor acted properly in
creating the panel because some of the cases
involve people who had committed relatively
minor offences and are deserving of a second
chance,” said State Senator Parker, also a
Brooklyn Democrat. “It’s definitely a move in
the right direction and we believe the panel will
do a thorough job and act in the best interest of
the people of the State of New York. I welcome
the action.”
Like Senator Parker, Dr. Marco Mason, a
prominent immigration advocate, praised the
Governor for taking “a compassionate stance”
on the issue that deserved a thorough examination.
“It is clear that some of the deportations
adversely affect immigrant families whose
chief breadwinner may have committed a relatively
minor crime decades ago, turned their
lives around and have become productive members
of the state and have contributed significantly
to the well-being of New Yorkers” said
Dr. Mason. “What he has done makes quite a
lot of sense.”
In announcing the creation of the panel,
the Governor explained that people seeking
pardons would be those “deserving of additional
consideration based on the facts and circumstances.”
The cases to be reviewed are those involving
convictions for “minor” offences, are “old”
and the immigrants have shown “extensive
efforts towards rehabilitation.”
Essentially, the panel is to quicken the
pace of the pardon application review process
while taking into consideration such factors as
the person’s longevity and roots in a community;
the record of avoiding contact with the criminal
justice system after their initial conviction;
and their contributions to society.
“Some of the immigration laws, particularly
with respect to deportation, are extremely
inflexible,” Paterson complained.
“However, federal law allows governors to
pardon individuals in certain cases in order to
remove the deportation consequence of a state
criminal conviction. In some small way, we
hope this initiative will help set an example for
how to soften the blow on cases of deserving
individuals caught in the web of our national
immigration laws. We hope it will prove that
justice can always find a way.”
Before making a recommendation to the
Governor who has broad authority to grant
clemency, which may include a pardon, a
reprieve or a commutation of an inmate’s prison
sentence, the panel is to delve into the background
of individual cases and interview applicants.
P
aterson was quick to point out that not all
pardons would prevent deportation. For example,
people convicted of certain drug offences
and gun charges wouldn’t be eligible.
“The panel will only recommend pardons
for those individuals who have contributed as
New Yorkers and who deserve relief from
deportation or indefinite detention,” Paterson
explained. “This initiative will help preserve
the wealth of good that immigrants have provided
our state, and will stand as a symbol of
justice and humanity that captures the spirit of
New York.”
He also made it clear that the gravity of the
offense committed by an immigrant would prevent
him or her from being pardoned.
“The panel will seek to identify those
cases where the particular facts of the individual’s
background –including the nature of the
crime, history of rehabilitation, ties to the
United States and other factors make him or her
appropriate for closer consideration for a pardon,”
the Governor said.
Interestingly, the group will look at the
country to which immigrants are to be deported,
especially cases in which they may have left
their birthplaces as children and now have few,
if any, relatives there now.
Just as important is the ability to speak the
country’s language, for instance, Haitians who
are unable to speak Creole or Dominicans who
can’t speak Spanish.
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