by Jennie Taer

 

Immigration organizations called out President Joe Biden for his exclusion of illegal migrants in his pardon for federal offenses of simple marijuana possession.

“This pardon does not apply to individuals who were non-citizens not lawfully present in the United States at the time of their offense,” Biden’s memorandum on the plan stated.

“Once again this choice continues to criminalize immigrants, excluding us from what we know is right for all,” Anti-deportation group United We Dream wrote on Twitter Wednesday.

The Immigrant Defense Project said the decision to “explicitly” exclude illegal migrants from the pardons is “thanks to our punitive immigration laws.”

“While we are glad to see President Biden taking concrete steps to address some of these consequences, we are grimly disappointed that it does not extend to immigrants who were undocumented and urge him to ensure that all immigrants are included in the pardon process,” the National Immigration Project wrote in a statement.

While the pardon excludes illegal migrants, it does benefit those who were lawful permanent residents at the time of their offense.

“As I’ve said before, no one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana,” Biden wrote of his decision.

The White House didn’t respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

– – –

Jennie Taer is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.

 

 

 


Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].