Press Releases
11/28/2023
Attorney General Tong Announces Federal Appeals Court Decision Affirming Legitimacy of Connecticut Pardons
(Hartford, CT) – Attorney General William Tong announced a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirming the legitimacy of Connecticut pardons and giving Connecticut resident Kimanie Tavoy Graham a second chance at remaining in the country.Graham is a lawful permanent resident living in Connecticut, and the husband and father of United States citizens. He was convicted of crimes in Connecticut, and faced deportation before he was granted a full and unconditional pardon for all state offenses on March 16, 2020. Under the Pardon Waiver Clause of the Immigration and Nationality Act, Graham was entitled to cancellation of his deportation.
The Board of Immigration Appeals refused to re-open his case, based on an illogical and unsupported reading of Connecticut’s pardon process. In Graham’s case, and several others, federal authorities had singled out Connecticut residents for harsher treatment merely because Connecticut pardons are issued by the governor-appointed Board of Pardons and Paroles rather than directly by the governor.
Graham appealed his case to the Second Circuit. The Office of the Attorney General filed an amicus brief in his case, defending the legitimacy of Connecticut’s pardons, in line with the position Attorney General Tong has taken in multiple similar cases. Attorney General Tong sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice in 2019 seeking a declaratory judgement that Connecticut’s pardons were indeed executive pardons under federal law. Attorney General Tong personally argued and defended the legitimacy of Connecticut's pardon process before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and First Circuit in 2019. In both cases, the courts sided with Connecticut, resulting in the release of detained Connecticut residents Wayzaro Walton and Richard Thompson.
While awaiting a decision from the Second Circuit, Connecticut reached an agreement in August 2022 with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut affirming that the Department of Homeland Security would recognize full and unconditional pardons granted by the Connecticut Board of Pardons and Paroles as waiving deportability, based on a Connecticut conviction, under the Immigration and Nationality Act’s pardon waiver clause. The agreement also provided that the Department of State would recognize such pardons as executive pardons for purposes of visa eligibility in the case of noncitizens applying for a visa.
Citing that agreement, the Second Circuit returned Graham’s case to the Board of Immigration Appeals for further review.
“This decision affirms once again that Connecticut’s pardons count. Kimanie Graham was granted a pardon and given a second chance by the state of Connecticut. Based on our agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, it is my hope that the Board of Immigration Appeals will rescind its removal order and allow Graham to remain here, at home, with his wife and children,” said Attorney General Tong.
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