
Chomsky: Obama should issue a general pardon to undocumented immigrants - aaronyy
http://www.alternet.org/immigration/noam-chomskys-audacious-request-president-obama-he-leaves-office
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theonemind
Can the President do this? The article mentions that pardon power extends
beyond criminal offense. However, it doesn't seem clear to me that pardon
power covers allowing undocumented immigrants to stay. If, say, I stole $3
million dollars from the US and got pardoned for the crime, they might still
want the $3 million back.

I suppose I don't understand the pardon power very well. Could the US
illegally deport a citizen, pardon everyone involved, deny the citizen entry,
and pardon everyone who conspires to keep the citizen out of the country every
time they try to enter? It seems somehow like this, like this use of the
pardon power circumvents something more fundamental.

I think the article raises this point somewhere around: "As we have repeatedly
said for years, only Congress can create legal status for undocumented
individuals," a White House official told BuzzFeed.

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atomi
Doubtful. Unlawful presence is a civil offense and there are no actual
criminal proceedings for deportation. In fact you could be accused of unlawful
presence without sixth amendment protections.

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detaro
Don't pardons also only work for past offenses? Presumably the people for
which it is relevant would still be in violation afterwards, which would not
be protected by the pardon?

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bratsche
Obama was asked about pardoning Edward Snowden (not that long ago I think) and
my recollection of his response was that he said he didn't have the power to
pardon someone who hadn't yet been convicted of a crime.

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thescribe
Chomsky says that President Obama should, but is very light on why he should.

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billy8988
If Obama did, I think it will help Trump with his base. Trump can cop out
saying he cannot deport 12 million people now ignoring the fact that it is
impossible to do.

