Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday issued pardons to three more immigrants who served time behind bars in California but who later were released. All three have been facing the possibility of being deported for their crimes by federal immigration officials. In all, Governor Newsom announced in a written statement that he had granted four pardons and two commutations.
Victor Ayala is 38-years-old and was sentenced to probation in 2001 for felony robbery when he was just 21. That wasn't his first trouble with the law. He had previously been charged with misdemeanor hit and run and petty theft between 1999 and 2001. If deported Ayala would be sent back to El Salvador. He came into the United States legally with his parents at the age of two, the governor’s staff said.
Arnou Aghamalian was 22-years-old when he was convicted in 1999 for setting a car on fire. Aghamalian is said to have come to the U.S. as an Iranian refugee at age 15 and would be deported to that country.
Newsom also pardoned 41-year-old Thear Sam, who had a robbery conviction in 1996 and became accessory to a felony in 1998 by helping a car thief escape from the police. Sam came to the U.S. as a four-year-old refugee fleeing the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
These three were at risk for deportation because they "made bad decisions" and broke the law as teenagers or young adults, according to the statement. They all served their sentences, so deporting them now would be "an unjust collateral consequence" harming their families and communities, said the Governor. The pardons won't scrub their convictions from the record, but Newsom added that his actions highlight the efforts these people have made to turn around their lives.
The California Constitution gives the Governor the authority to grant clemency, including in the form of a pardon. A series of pardons like these granted by Newsom and his predecessor, Jerry Brown, both of whom are Democrats, are seen as a response to Republican President Donald Trump's administration, which has cracked down on immigrants who committed crimes.
The Governor said he regards clemency as an important part of the criminal justice system that can incentivize accountability and rehabilitation and correct unjust results in the legal system.