cannabisnews.com: Immigrant Faces Deportation for Medical Marijuana!





Immigrant Faces Deportation for Medical Marijuana!
Posted by FoM on August 03, 1999 at 07:02:51 PT
By Scott Andrews, Associated Press Writer
Source: Sacramento Bee
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A Mexican with legal residency in the United States is facing deportation for possession of what he calls medical marijuana.
Ismael Valenzuela of Sacramento and his cancer-afflicted wife, Mae, said she bought two pounds of marijuana in 1994 and planned to use it as a treatment for pain.Before a deportation hearing Monday, Valenzuela said he took the rap for his ailing wife, an American citizen, when he pleaded guilty in 1995.Now the 37-year-old truck driver says that he has paid his debt to society, and that it would be unduly harsh on his five dependent children to force him to return to Mexico."Is this the fairness the government is always talking about on the news? Is this what they are talking about? Is this what America is about?" he said Monday, his deeply etched face breaking into a frown.Valenzuela's predicament stems from the federal Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which eliminated waivers for legal immigrants facing deportation for felonies.Previously, judges could grant waivers when deportation would hurt U.S. citizens, such as Valenzuela's children.The law's impact was magnified by the Immigration and Naturalization Service's decision, in March, to focus on deporting criminals."It's a tough law but that's the law that the people of the United States put in place," said INS spokeswoman Sharon Rummery.The nonprofit Immigrant Legal Resource Center, which gathered Valenzuela, his wife and their children for Monday's press conference, is using his case to bolster their call for a more lenient law. A judge on Monday postponed making a decision in the case for 90 days."Current immigration law has resulted in separating thousands of families," said Mark Silverman, the group's attorney. "This law was not an anti-immigration law but an anti-family law."Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., is sponsoring legislation to restore flexibility to the deportation process. He said the government should draw a distinction between people who commit "particularly heinous or violent crimes" and those who have "made mistakes" but are productive members of society.Valenzuela's legal troubles began in 1994, when Sacramento police got an anonymous tip he had 60 kilograms of cocaine.Valenzuela allowed police to search his home and trucks, even lending them tools to remove panels in his van. He claims he did not know his wife had stashed pot on the van's battery.The pot was mostly leaves, Mrs.Valenzuela said. Marijuana leaves have nowhere near the intoxicating effect of the plant's buds.Mrs. Valenzuela used the leaves to make compresses she used to relieve pain from thyroid cancer.When he pleaded guilty in 1995, a judge told Valenzuela his plea might affect his immigration status. Valenzuela concedes he "wasn't paying attention," but says his attorney should have explained the potential consequences.He was given an eight-month suspended prison sentence and ordered to give 90 days of community service. His conviction came a year before California voters approved medical use of marijuana.Now, a new attorney is seeking to overturn Valenzuela's conviction on the grounds that he did not get enough advice from his attorney. The original attorney, David Weiner of Cameron Park, denied the accusation, saying he told Valenzuela he could be deported.If the effort fails, immigration attorney Christopher Yun plans to appeal the deportation order on the grounds that Valenzuela was convicted before the stricter immigration law passed.Valenzuela has considered returning illegally, said his wife. She opposes that plan because it "would not give us any peace." She said she would not move to Mexico because of her cancer.One option the couple has discussed, she said, is divorcing."I don't want that," she said, and burst into tears. Pubdate: August 3, 1999Copyright © The Sacramento Bee 
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