cannabisnews.com: Mother's Shock at Drugs Expulsion! 





Mother's Shock at Drugs Expulsion! 
Posted by FoM on March 14, 1999 at 14:18:38 PT
World: Americas
Residency status is illegal for anyone with drugs convictions A British woman who is to be deported from the United States because of a minor drugs conviction in the UK over 20 years ago says she is shocked at the decision. 
Deborah Aaron: 'Deportation would ruin family life' Deborah Aaron says she believes a pardon from the British government is now her only hope of staying in America with her family. She was fined £10 ($16) for being in possession of a small quantity of cannabis in a house she shared with other students in 1976. A year later she married an American and eventually moved to California, but without getting the proper visa. She and her husband now have three sons, aged between 14 and 21. They are all American citizens. But strict immigration rules in the US say that anyone convicted of a drug offence, no matter how minor or how long ago, should be prevented from ever gaining the legal right to live in the country. Mrs Aaron said that while she was ultimately expecting the decision, she was still shocked that it had happened, and was hoping for a pardon from the UK government. 'Exceptional circumstances' "I feel like I am at the end of the line now, I am really up against the wall," she told the BBC. "The British government can realise that this is an extremely exceptional case and they can grant me a pardon. "I am perfectly willing to talk to anybody who has the power to help me, to explain the circumstances of my arrest. "It is such a small and minor offence as far as the British government is concerned, I can't really understand why at this juncture 23 years later I couldn't be granted some kind of official pardon." Mrs Aaron said she had spent more than half of her adult life in the United States, and the expulsion would be completely disruptive to her family life. A date is still to be set by the immigration service by which Mrs Aaron should leave, and she has been given 30 days to appeal the decision. http://news2.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid%5F296000/296075.stm
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