CONNECTICUT, United States (AP) — A federal appeals court has reversed a decision by immigration authorities to deport a Connecticut man because he was convicted of felony assault 19 years ago, when he was 18, despite state officials having pardoned him.
The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston ruled last Thursday that the Bureau of Immigration Appeals was wrong to reject the validity of the pardon given in 2017 to Richard Marvin Thompson, by the State Board of Pardons and Paroles.
The appeals court sent the case back to the Bureau of Immigration Appeals with instructions to follow its own long-standing policies of recognising state pardons.
Despite the pardon, immigration officials moved to deport him and Thompson appealed to the Bureau of Immigration Appeals, which ruled against him.
In December, the Board of Immigration Appeals stopped the deportation proceedings, saying her state pardon was valid.
