Nine congressional lawmakers sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Monday, imploring him to extend his recent marijuana pardon action to include immigrants who have citizenship status issues. They are also urging him to go further with cannabis reform, saying he should \u201cprioritize\u201d decriminalization or descheduling.<\/p>\n
The letter\u2014led by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Chuy Garc\u00eda (D-IL)\u2014also calls on Biden to reopen immigration cases for the tens of thousands of people who\u2019ve been deported over simple marijuana possession offenses.<\/p>\n
The president\u2019s clemency action \u201cis an essential step for our country\u2019s promise of justice for all,\u201d the lawmakers wrote. \u201cTherefore, it is of utmost importance that the Administration pardon all<\/em> simple marijuana possession offenses\u2014regardless of immigration status.\u201d<\/p>\n Today we led a letter with @RepChuyGarcia<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n You can read the full letter here. pic.twitter.com\/ZKPARuMGvp<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) November 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cUsing the power of the pardon is a constitutional imperative and a critical tool in rectifying the compounding racial injustices of draconian drug policies,\u201d they said. \u201cHowever, continuing to deport immigrants for simple marijuana possession will only exacerbate racial disparities, traumatize families and communities vital to this country\u2019s fabric, and create ineffective legal regimes at taxpayers\u2019 expense.\u201d<\/p>\n Ocasio-Cortez previously urged an expansion of Biden\u2019s pardons<\/a>, stressing the importance of having a Democratic Party that proactively stands up for Latino communities, including the immigrant population. Part of that means enacting inclusive policies, she said, which was a missing element of the president\u2019s mass cannabis pardon.<\/p>\n According to a U.S. Sentencing Commission (USCC)\u00a0report\u00a0from 2016, 92 percent of federal marijuana possession cases in Fiscal Yer 2013 occurred at the U.S. Southern border, and 94 percent of those people were not U.S. citizens. Those statistics have shifted year-to-year, but it nonetheless speaks to a broader trend in federal enforcement.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter decades of the failed war on drugs and the countless lives and families it ruined, our country must begin repairing those harms,\u201d the lawmakers\u2019 new letter<\/a> says. \u201cGranting pardons to all simple marijuana possession offenses\u2014regardless of immigration status\u2014demonstrates 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.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, for immigrants whose lives have been upended for simple marijuana possession, a pardon is only the first step in allowing them to rebuild their lives. That is why we also urge you to prioritize decriminalizing and descheduling marijuana and reopening the immigration cases of those who were deported for marijuana-related offenses. These actions would restore the lives and dignity of thousands of migrants who were deported for conduct that is now legal in varying capacities across 41 states. Additionally, following these actions would allow those same people to return to their families and lives in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n Biden campaigned on decriminalizing cannabis possession, but he remains opposed to federal legalization, which is effectively what descheduling would accomplish. However, along with the pardons, he did direct an administrative review of marijuana scheduling last month that could theoretically return a descheduling recommendation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe applaud the work that your administration has done in centering marginalized communities and their needs as you consider executive actions and the power of the pardon,\u201d the letter to the president concludes. \u201cWe urge you to extend these efforts to include immigrants so that they might have the same opportunities that you have extended to others.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier this month, more than 130 immigrations and civil rights organizations sent a letter to Biden, similarly imploring him to extend his marijuana possession pardon proclamation to anyone regardless of immigration status<\/a>.<\/p>\n Biden\u2019s mass pardon impacted\u00a0about 6,500 people who\u2019ve committed marijuana possession offenses<\/a>\u00a0at the federal level, plus those who\u2019ve violated the law in Washington, D.C., but activists have argued that the relief\u00a0should also extend to people like immigrants and those with sales convictions<\/a>.<\/p>\n Activists with Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), Last Prisoner Project (LPP) and DCMJ\u00a0staged protests outside of the White House last month<\/a>\u00a0to call attention to that issue, demanding that Biden release the estimated 2,800 people currently in federal prison for marijuana convictions that aren\u2019t limited to simple possession.<\/p>\n While Biden has repeatedly touted his cannabis clemency action<\/a>, saying at one point that he\u2019s \u201cchanged the lives of thousands of people,\u201d he\u2019s strongly indicated that he\u2019s unwilling to provide further relief<\/a>\u00a0for those with sales convictions.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the White House drug czar recently cheered Biden\u2019s \u201chistoric\u201d move<\/a>\u00a0to issue a mass marijuana pardon and direct an administrative review of the drug\u2019s scheduling status. And he is again highlighting that there are \u201cclearly\u201d medical benefits of cannabis\u2014which he says shouldn\u2019t be ignored because of separate concerns about youth use.<\/p>\n The Justice Department and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have\u00a0committed to quickly carrying out the separate scheduling review<\/a>\u00a0the president directed, which could result in a recommendation to place cannabis in a lower schedule or remove it altogether, effectively legalizing the plant under federal law.<\/p>\n HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra has said\u00a0officials will \u201cwork as quickly as we can\u201d to complete the analysis<\/a>\u00a0of cannabis scheduling per the president\u2019s directive.<\/p>\n The Department of Justice, for its part, \u201cwill expeditiously administer the President\u2019s proclamation, which pardons individuals who engaged in simple possession of marijuana, restoring political, civil, and other rights to those convicted of that offense,\u201d a department spokesperson said.<\/p>\n Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said that officials will be working diligently to ensure that people who received a pardon for federal marijuana offenses under the presidential proclamation\u00a0are not impeded from future job opportunities<\/a>.<\/p>\n Vice President Kamala Harris said last month that voters should elect lawmakers who support marijuana reform so that Congress can enact a \u201cuniform approach\u201d to the issue\u00a0in light of the president\u2019s cannabis pardons<\/a>.<\/p>\n A series of polls have shown that Americans\u00a0strongly support the president\u2019s pardon action<\/a>, and they also don\u2019t think that marijuana should be federally classified as a Schedule I drug.<\/p>\n Advocates Urge Congress To Reject Alcohol Model For Marijuana Regulations, Criticizing Tobacco-Funded Group\u2019s Hearing Participation<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post AOC Leads Lawmakers In Pushing Biden To Extend Marijuana Pardons To Immigrants<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Nine congressional lawmakers sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Monday, imploring him to extend his recent marijuana pardon action to include immigrants who have citizenship status issues. They are also urging him to go further with cannabis reform, saying he should \u201cprioritize\u201d decriminalization or descheduling. The letter\u2014led byContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58001"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58001"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58002,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58001\/revisions\/58002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: AOC Leads Lawmakers In Pushing Biden To Extend Marijuana Pardons To Immigrants<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"