A Jamaican who was facing deportation after serving 25 years in a New York prison was pardoned on Wednesday by Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Colin Absolam was pardoned after lawyers petitioned the New York governor’s office, noting that he had already served time for murder, earned parole, and would be sent to a country he left as a child and separated from family members living in New York.
The Jamaican-born man will have to wait until next week for a judge to vacate his removal order from the United States in order to return to New York and avoid being rearrested by ICE officials.
In an essay to The Marshall Project – a US news website, Absolam said he moved to the Bronx from Jamaica when he was 11 years old.
He described how he dropped out of high school and started selling drugs to help support his pregnant girlfriend.
In 1992, when he was 19, he shot and killed a man who he describes as an older, rival drug dealer during a fight and was sentenced to 25 years to life.
While in Sing Sing Correctional Facility, where he spent most of his sentence, he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree, became involved in educational and anti-violence programs and ran an AIDS counseling program that serves hundreds of clients a year.
After receiving parole last June, Absolam was taken to an immigrant detention facility near Buffalo, New York.
Because he committed an aggravated felony, he was automatically set for deportation upon release from prison.
Sounds like this man served his time and he did so #humbly and #well. He made use of his time, earning not one but two degrees and now devoted his time to others.
I think a stay of the original order is justified. Good for you young man! You were young and led to a life of criminality but you did not let that DEFINE you or your future. Good for you!
Any side wa u sleep pon last night make sure u sleep pon it foreva cuz u is one lucky duck. So a him one inna d whole prison system all dese years made a difference. Him sprecial!!