DON THOMPSON
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced that he is pardoning three men who separately committed crimes when they were each 19 years old and now are attempting to avoid being deported to Cambodia or Vietnam.
It’s the latest in a series of similar actions by the Democratic governor as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to deport those with criminal records, particularly to Southeast Asian nations.
California has fashioned itself as a “sanctuary state” for those in the country illegally, and in 2017 passed a law barring local and state agencies from cooperating with federal immigration authorities over those who have committed certain crimes, mostly misdemeanors.
Those pardoned include Saman Pho, 44, of Oakland, who
