governor paterson pardons qing hong wu

We've been following the case of Qing Hong Wu, the Chinese immigrant who had gotten into trouble and was incarcerated as a teen but managed to turn his life around. But all these years later, after establishing a family and successful career, rigid immigrations laws threatened to take it all away.

Turns out, his story might have a happy ending after all. On Saturday, Governor David A. Paterson announced that he had pardoned Wu, stopping deportation proceedings against him and opening the door to American citizenship. He can stay: Paterson Rewards Redemption With a Pardon.

Gov. Paterson's announcement ends a long battle that had attracted strong community support for Qing Hong Wu from all sides, including OCA, the former judge who originally sentenced Wu as a teen, as well as a "rainbow of people" -- including complete strangers -- from across the internet.

This is an awesome victory. A full and unconditional pardon should not only prevent the federal government from deporting Wu, but should be grounds for eventually granting him citizenship. That's redemption. More here: Gov pardon for immigrant who turned life around.