New York governor pardons 9/11 Ground Zero worker facing deportation under Trump administration
Mr Trump has instructed the federal government to be tough on immigration
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Your support makes all the difference.The governor of New York State has pardoned an undocumented immigrant who worked on to help clean up ground zero following the September 11 terrorist attacks in order to help him fight deportation proceedings.
Andrew Cuomo’s pardon regards a 1990 conviction for attempting to sell a controlled substance. At the time, he was 21 years old.
That conviction had been of interest to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has been tasked by Donald Trump’s administration to deport as many undocumented immigrants as possible. Those instructions include deporting non-criminals, however, which is an expansion of criteria from the stated principles of the Barack Obama administration.
After the 1990 conviction, Carlos Cardona helped with recovery work after two planes flew into the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan in what was the deadliest terror attack on US soil.
He developed acute respiratory issues later on, as well as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Those conditions are common amongst 9/11 responders.
Mr Cardona is originally from Santiago de Cali, Colombia, and entered the United States in 1986 when he was about 16 years old.
He was detained by American immigration services in February, and has been held there since.
Mr Trump began his 2016 campaign with the promise to deport undocumented immigrants who he labeled as rapists and criminals. While controversial, that promise to be tough on America’s borders seemed to resonate with bas Republican voters concerned about national security and American job security that is said to be threatened by foreign nationals coming into the country and willing to work for cheaper wages.
Legal challenges to Trump administration efforts to make good on its promise to focus on deporting undocumented immigrants have resulted in some lawyers indicating that they do not have the legal authority to block deportations of undocumented immigrants, even if they are non violent and without a criminal record.
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