The Michigan Parole Board has agreed to conduct a full-but-speedy review of pardon requests from Iraqi nationals threatened with deportation.
The board agreed to review nine of nearly 70 requests that have been received since federal immigration authorities began detaining Iraqis with criminal records. Most of the offenses were years ago.
The Iraqis seeking pardons were detained because they have some type of criminal records. In most cases, the offenses occurred many years ago. A federal judge temporarily halted the deportations last month.
Governor Rick Snyder asked the parole board to move quickly after a federal judge delayed deportations.
Ari Adler is the governor’s communications director.
“We felt it was a logical step to at least have an investigation done by the parole board, as we would with other requests that come in, and now we are waiting to see what the result is going to be,” Adler said.
Many Iraqi Christians, in particular, say they face persecution, torture, even murder if they’re returned.
