During his run for the White House, Joe Biden basically said that he would legalize marijuana and vowed to free people in jail over marijuana charges. In a superficial effort to keep that promise, Biden pardoned all minor marijuana charges against people in federal penitentiaries. Which, how many people are in federal prison over minor marijuana charges? Not many.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants Biden to expand his pardon to include illegals who were deported on drug charges and demands that Biden reopen immigration cases for people with past possession charges. She and her squad launch a campaign to move Biden to their side of the argument.
“First: I’m pardoning all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession. There are thousands of people who were previously convicted of simple possession who may be denied employment, housing, or educational opportunities as a result. My pardon will remove this burden,” Biden tweeted.
The squad responded with a letter demanding Biden comply:
“It is of utmost importance that the Administration pardon all simple marijuana possession offenses – regardless of immigration status,” the members of Congress state in the letter. “Using the power of the pardon is a constitutional imperative and a critical tool in rectifying the compounding racial injustices of draconian drug policies. However, continuing to deport immigrants for simple marijuana possession will only exacerbate racial disparities, traumatize families and communities vital to this country’s fabric, and create ineffective legal regimes at taxpayers’ expense.”
“Granting pardons to all simple marijuana possession offenses – regardless of immigration status – demonstrates genuine compassion while ensuring that our country continues to mitigate the inhumane and ineffective drudge policies that have ravaged communities of color for so long,” the letter adds.
As I said—in addition to asking Biden to pardon simple marijuana possession charges, the Democrats also ask him to reopen “the immigration cases of those who were deported for marijuana-related offenses.”
Today we led a letter with @RepChuyGarcia asking the President to pardon all simple marijuana possession offenses, regardless of immigration status and reopen the immigration cases of those who were deported for marijuana-related offenses.
You can read the full letter here. pic.twitter.com/ZKPARuMGvp
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) November 15, 2022
Obviously, they did not read his proclimation which specifically excludes illegal immigrants: “This pardon does not apply to individuals who were non-citizens not lawfully present in the United States at the time of their offense,” the proclamation states.