Colorado governor pardons felon to stave off deportation

Jasmine Lima-Marin stands at a podium as she addresses the media during a news conference on Friday, May 19, 2017, in Denver. Lima-Marin’s husband, who came to the United States from Cuba as a baby during the Mariel boat lift in 1980, faces deportation. She says she’s hopeful that he won’t be deported but adds that she and the couple’s two children would follow him there if he is. (AP Photo/ P. Solomon Banda)

DENVER (AP) — Colorado’s governor on Friday pardoned a Cuban immigrant who had been mistakenly freed from prison, returned and then set free this week only to be held by immigration authorities for deportation.

Rene Lima-Marin was a toddler when his parents entered the U.S. as part of the 1980 Mariel boatlift. He was a legal resident of the United States. But that was revoked after his conviction in an armed robbery case in 2000.

Lima-Marin had initially been mistakenly released from Colorado state prison on parole in 2008, married and worked regularly installing glass. The authorities sent him back to prison in 2014, and a judge ruled this week that Lima-Marin deserved to be released.

But before he could return to his family, ICE detained him, citing the deportation order from 2000. His lawyers said a pardon was his only chance to stave off deportation.

“This was a question of justice,” Gov. John Hickenlooper told an afternoon news conference, noting that 98 of the 100 members of the state Assembly had backed a motion calling for Lima-Marin’s pardon. “This was a pretty clear example of someone who’s done all the work necessary to earn a second chance.”

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It’s unclear whether the governor’s action will be enough to stop Lima-Marin’s deportation.

“I’m not a lawyer,” Hickenlooper said when asked whether the pardon would be enough.

Hans Meyer, Rene-Marin’s lawyer, said he’d file motions to try to vacate the federal government’s deportation order. “We’re incredibly grateful to the governor for a just and fair solution,” he said.