Hey Prez, show you have a heart
NOW THAT CUOMO PARDONED 9/11 WORKER, TRUMP MUST LET HIM STAY
ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo on Wednesday pardoned a former Ground Zero recovery worker facing deportation for an almost 30-year-old criminal conviction.
Carlos Cardona, who was convicted of a nonviolent drug crime in 1990, has been detained since February, when federal immigration authorities took him from his Queens home weeks after President Trump took office.
Cuomo’s pardon means Cardona’s conviction is erased, which could eliminate the federal government’s reason to deport him.
That will be up to President Trump and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Cardona, 48, is an undocumented immigrant construction worker from Colombia.
Cuomo’s order came days after the Daily News reported on his potential deportation.
“In the more than 30 years since Carlos Cardona has lived in this country, he has built a family and given back to his community, including in the aftermath of 9/11 when he assisted with Ground Zero recovery efforts at the expense of his own health,” Cuomo said.
“It is my hope this action will not only reunite Mr. Cardona with his wife and daughter, but also send a message about the values of fairness and equality that New York was founded upon,” he added. Cardona was a cleanup and hazmat recovery worker at Ground Zero following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He now suffers from acute respiratory issues, depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder. He was 21 when he was convicted in 1990 of attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in Queens. He has not been in trouble with the law since. Cuomo said without receiving clemency, Cardona, who came to the U.S. in 1986, would almost certainly be deported to Colombia, where he would not
be able to receive suitable health care.
The pardon should enable Cardona and his lawyer to reopen the final order of removal because the grounds for deportation are no longer valid.
Cardona’s lawyer, Rajesh Barua, did not comment.
A spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement had no comment on Cuomo’s action or what it might mean for Cardona’s fate.
Cardona married an American citizen who is also a former Ground Zero recovery worker and has a 19-year-old daughter in college.
His wife, Liliana, who he married in 2013, was informed about the clemency by The News.
“Ayy, que bien,” she said in a text that translates to “Oh, great!”
The text included smiling emojis followed by applause emojis.
“It’s wonderful, thank God,” she texted. “I feel super happy.”
Cardona’s cause had been taken up by a number of people, including Rep. Joseph Crowley (DQueens).
“Mr. Cardona is deserving of our thanks — not the cold shoulder,” Crowley wrote recently in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Thomas Homan.
Cuomo’s pardon was hailed by groups like the Hispanic Federation, the Fortune Society and the state Bar Association.
“This pardon grants mercy to a deserving New Yorker with no other means of relief from the lifealtering consequences of a criminal conviction that has followed him for 27 years,” said Joanne Marci, chair of the state Bar Association immigration committee.
Hispanic Federation President Jose Calderone said Cardona deserves relief for having “given back so much” and for “conclusively” turning his life around.
“With this pardon, Mr. Cardona will be able to make his case to stay in this country with his family, and continue to receive care for his serious medical conditions,” Calderone said.
Cardona was among the more than 41,000 people ICE agents took into custody during the first 100 days of the Trump administration.
He filed a legal action in Brooklyn federal court asking that the feds quickly decide a 2014 application verifying his marriage to Liliana — a move necessary when seeking legal residency.
The clemency application was filed with the state in April.
It is my hope this action will ... send a message about the values of fairness and equality that New York was founded upon. GOV. CuOMO