New York Governor Kathy Hochul has outdone herself.
At a time when violent crime, illegal immigration, and public safety dominate national concerns, the governor of New York decided her top priority was granting clemency to an illegal immigrant with a manslaughter conviction.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Hochul pardoned Somchith Vatthanavong, a 52-year-old illegal immigrant who was convicted as a teenager of killing a man in a Brooklyn pool hall. By offering him a pardon, Hochul effectively cleared the path for him to stay in the United States and avoid deportation.
Vatthanavong shot and killed a man outside that pool hall in 1990. He called it self-defense. The court didn’t buy it. He was convicted of manslaughter and criminal possession of a firearm and served 14 years behind bars. After his release, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement flagged him for removal, as any reasonable person would expect. After all, if you’re not an American citizen and you commit a crime that serious on American soil, deportation seems like an obvious consequence.
But Hochul disagreed. Last month, the governor stepped in with a pardon, which not only eliminated the conviction that triggered his deportation order but also allowed him to reopen his immigration case entirely.
Hellbound and Down 