The Immigration Politics of a Felon’s Pardon
15th September 2026
How far will New York Gov. Kathy Hochul go to keep immigrant criminals in this country?
So far, she’ll even pardon a man convicted of an aggravated felony, if that’s what it takes to prevent the United States Supreme Court from setting a restrictionist precedent.
Keisy Guerrero Mariano is a Dominican who spent two years in prison for committing a violent crime: second-degree assault.
Mariano, known as “G.M.” in court documents, is exactly the sort of lawbreaker Americans overwhelmingly want to see deported.
But not Hochul — she granted him clemency on Aug. 28.
His case stood out from those of the other five people she pardoned that day:
The others were nonviolent offenders who’d committed their crimes decades ago: two in the 1980s, two in the ‘90s, and just one as recently as 2007.
G.M. was convicted in 2015.
The governor decided he merited special leniency, for political reasons.