2nd Cir. Grants Deportation Stay for Pardoned Woman

After the bad news, Wayzaro Walton got some good news. And then she got some better news.

Walton came to the United States illegally with her family when she was four years old. The bad news was she got convicted for felony shoplifting and other crimes four decades later.

The good news was she later received a state pardon. Then a federal appeals court stayed a deportation order against her, and that was the best news.

Connecticut Pardon

Walton was living with her spouse and 15-year-old daughter when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials detained her in late March. She was on track to be deported based on her criminal history in Connecticut.

But she had been pardoned by Connecticut in January, so her attorney sought a stay of deportation. Given her pardon, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals granted a temporary stay.

State Attorney General William Tong said the appeals court stayed the deportation proceedings pending appeal. It was a lucky day for Walton because detained immigrants are not entitled to periodic bond hearings.

In February, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a Ninth Circuit ruling that said they are entitled to hearings every six months. Now, under Jennings v. Rodriguez, they may be held indefinitely.

Bad to Worse

For many undocumented aliens, detention can go from bad to worse. It was the worst for one child who was rounded up in an ICE facility last year.

Yazmin Juarez and her daughter Mariee were detained at the ICE detention center in Dilley, Texas. Mariee, 19 months old at the time, soon became ill with a respiratory infection.

Juarez says she "repeatedly" tried to get medical care for her child, but it was not enough. They were later released, but it was too late.

Mariee died six weeks later. Her mother is suing the government for wrongful death.

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