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The Immigration Politics of a Felon’s Pardon

newsbusters.org · 11h · first reportShare

The Immigration Politics of a Felon’s Pardon Screenshot via CBS/Snapstream How far will New York Gov. Kathy Hochul go to keep immigrant criminals in this country? So far, she’ll even pardon a man convicted of an aggravated felony, if that’s what it takes to prevent the United States Supreme Court from setting a restrictionist precedent. Keisy Guerrero Mariano is a Dominican who spent two years in prison for committing a violent crime: second-degree assault. Mariano, known as “G.M.” in court documents, is exactly the sort of lawbreaker Americans overwhelmingly want to see deported. But not Hochul — she granted him clemency on Aug. 28. His case stood out from those of the other five people she pardoned that day: The others were nonviolent offenders who’d committed their crimes decades ago: two in the 1980s, two in the ‘90s, and just one as recently as 2007. G.M. was convicted in 2015. The governor decided he merited special leniency, for political reasons. Immigrations and Customs Enforc