CT says feds still trying to deport pardoned people

HARTFORD — Federal officials are not honoring an agreement to accept the validity of Connecticut pardons and continue trying to deport people pardoned by a state board because of their crimes, according to state Attorney General William Tong’s office.

Tong’s office sued several federal agencies including the U.S. departments of Homeland Security, Justice and Immigration and Customs Enforcement in October 2019. The lawsuit said federal authorities were refusing to honor the state’s pardon system in the cases of immigrants facing deportation because of criminal convictions, but who had been pardoned by the state’s Board of Pardons and Paroles.

At the time, the federal agencies argued a pardon must come from the president or a state governor in order to avert deportation proceedings. State officials responded that other states have pardons boards and the federal government was singling out Connecticut after having recognized its pardons as valid from 1952 to 2017.

The lawsuit appeared to be settled in September, with federal officials agreeing to recognize the state’s pardons.

But in new documents filed in U.S. District Court in Connecticut last week, Tong’s office said the Department of Homeland Security did not grant final approval to the settlement and continues to resist honoring the state’s pardons. State officials said Homeland Security has not ended deportation cases against several people who were pardoned by the state.

Joshua Perry, special counsel for civil rights for the Connecticut attorney general’s office, wrote in a new court filing that the Homeland Security Department is still not honoring state pardons granted to three Connecticut residents — Georgios Nikiforides, Hongnakhorn Luangpraseuth and Kimanie Graham.