After a clemency process aimed at assisting green card holders at risk of deportation because of past criminal convictions, and a meeting with his pardon panel, Governor David A. Paterson pardoned six out of 1,100 immigrants Monday including a financial administrator from the City University of New York, a New York Criminal Lawyer related.
“Federal immigration laws,” Paterson said, “are often inflexible, arbitrarily applied and excessively harsh, resulting in the deportation of individuals who have paid the price for their crimes and are now making positive contributions to our society. These pardons represent an attempt to achieve fairness and justice.”
New York Criminal Lawyers predict the governor will issue another batch of pardons before his term ends this month.