Trump blasts Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown for pardoning illegal immigrants

By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times - Saturday, March 31, 2018

President Trump blasted California Gov. Jerry Brown Saturday for pardoning five illegal immigrants who are facing possible deportation.

“Governor Jerry ‘Moonbeam’ Brown pardoned 5 criminal illegal aliens whose crimes include (1) Kidnapping and Robbery (2) Badly beating wife and threatening a crime with intent to terrorize (3) Dealing drugs. Is this really what the great people of California want? @FoxNews,” Mr. Trumptweeted.

The pardons were among 70 pre-Easter clemency actions granted by Mr. Brown. The majority were convicted of drug-related or other nonviolent crimes, the governor’s office said.

The pardoned illegal immigrants are:

• Sokha Chhan, who is in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement pending deportation to Cambodia. He was convicted of inflicting corporal injury with the intent to terrorize his spouse.

• Daniel Maher, a native of Macau who was sentenced in 1995 for kidnapping, robbery and using a firearm. He was detained by ICE in 2015.

• Phann Pheach, a native of Thailand convicted in 2005 for possession of a controlled substance for sale and obstructing a police officer. He has been detained by ICE and is facing possible deportation to Cambodia.

• Francisco Acevedo Alaniz, convicted of vehicle theft.

• Sergio Mena, sentenced in 2003 for possession of a controlled substance for sale.

The administration is suing California over its statewide status as a sanctuary for illegal immigrants, shielding them from possible deportation by federal authorities.


Donald J. Trump
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@realDonaldTrump
Governor Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown pardoned 5 criminal illegal aliens whose crimes include (1) Kidnapping and Robbery (2) Badly beating wife and threatening a crime with intent to terrorize (3) Dealing drugs. Is this really what the great people of California want? @FoxNews
5:53 AM - Mar 31, 2018
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https://www.washingtontimes.com/news...-governor-par/

5 hours ago
By Joseph Weber | Fox News

President Trump took aim at California Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday for pardoning five ex-convicts facing deportation, asking if residents of the Golden State “really want” such policies for criminal immigrants.

The president referred to Brown as “Moonbeam,” a nickname he was given in the late 1970s during his first time as governor for proposing a California space academy and later adopting a plan to launch and orbit a satellite for emergency communications.

“Governor Jerry 'Moonbeam' Brown pardoned 5 criminal illegal aliens whose crimes include (1) Kidnapping and Robbery (2) Badly beating wife and threatening a crime with intent to terrorize (3) Dealing drugs. Is this really what the great people of California want? @FoxNews,” tweeted Trump.


Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Governor Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown pardoned 5 criminal illegal aliens whose crimes include (1) Kidnapping and Robbery (2) Badly beating wife and threatening a crime with intent to terrorize (3) Dealing drugs. Is this really what the great people of California want? @FoxNews
5:53 AM - Mar 31, 2018
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The president’s remarks follow Brown’s pardon Friday of 56 convicted felons, two of whom were members of families that fled the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia four decades ago.

It was the Democrat governor’s third consecutive pardon round in which he intervened on behalf of immigrants who faced deportation because of criminal conditions.

The pardons don’t automatically stop deportation proceedings, but they eliminate the state convictions on which federal authorities based their deportation decisions on.

"The pardon does provide enormous benefit to immigrants facing deportation," said Anoop Prasad, an immigration staff attorney at Asian Law Caucus.

Trump’s remarks continued a war of words between him and Brown, who has accused the administration of “basically going to war” with California over immigration policy.

Brown last year signed sanctuary legislation limiting state and local cooperation with federal enforcement of immigration laws.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions responded with a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to invalidate three state laws protecting residents living in the country without documentation.

The pardons included Sokha Chhan and Phann Pheach, both of whom face deportation to Cambodia, a country ruled in the 1970s by the genocidal Khmer Rouge. Chhan was convicted of two counts of misdemeanor domestic violence in 2002 and served 364 days in jail.

Pheach was convicted of possessing drugs and obstructing a police officer in 2005 and served six months in jail. His wife said he is in federal custody.

Also pardoned was Daniel Maher, who was convicted in 1995 of kidnapping, robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm and served five years in prison. Maher is facing deportation to China.

Chhan, Pheach and Maher hold permanent U.S. residency but had exhausted all legal avenues to fight deportation, making Brown's pardons for them their last hope to stay in the U.S., Prasad said.

"This is a life-changing, enormous event," he said.

Also pardoned while facing deportation were Daniel Mena and Francisco Acevedo Alaniz, but their home countries were not immediately known. Mena was convicted in 2003 of possessing illegal drugs. Alaniz served five months in prison for a 1997 auto theft conviction.

Brown on Friday also commuted the sentences of 14 others convicted of crimes.

The governor is a former Jesuit seminarian and traditionally issues pardons close to major Christian holidays. Easter falls on Sunday.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...portation.html

Posted By Virginia Kruta On 3:29 PM 03/31/2018


Radio host and Fox News commentator Dan Bongino held nothing back when he learned that California Governor Jerry Brown had granted pardons to five illegal immigrants.

Brown pardoned 56 in total on Friday, in addition to commuting 14 sentences. Bongino, like President Donald Trump, took issue with the pardons granted to illegal immigrants.

Dan Bongino
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So, just to be clear, in California you get a pardon from the liberal Governor for actual crimes while the Sheriffs, who actually enforce our immigration laws, are under threat of potential arrest for doing so? We are living in an abyss of stupidity.
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6:52 AM - 31 Mar 2018

Bongino referenced the ongoing battle between several local sheriffs’ offices, Governor Brown, and his Attorney General Xavier Becerra, both Democrats. California became a sanctuary state on January 1, but officials in Los Alamitos and Orange County have reportedly been looking for a workaround. Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said that her office would publish the release dates of inmates, calling it a public safety issue rather than an immigration issue.

AG Becerra held a news conference the following day, issuing a statement of his own to any departments that might be considering similar action. “State law is state law. It’s my job to enforce state law and I will do so. We want to make sure that every jurisdiction, including Orange County, understands what state law requires of the people and the subdivisions of the state of California.”

Becerra was later asked what steps he might be willing to take and whether sheriffs would be subject to lawsuits or even arrest. His response was simple: “I think I just answered that.”
All five of the illegal immigrants pardoned by Brown on Friday were facing the threat of deportation.

http://dailycaller.com/2018/03/31/se...-of-stupidity/