Community Corner
Gov. Cuomo Pardons NYC Father Facing Deportation
Baba Sillah, who works as a porter on the Upper East Side, was detained following a January immigration check-in.
NEW YORK, NY — A New York City father of five who is facing deportation to his native Gambia received a pardon for past low-level criminal offenses on the eve of a federal court appearance, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday.
Baba Sillah, 47, was granted clemency Friday for a number of convictions stemming from his job as an unlicensed clothes salesman when he first arrived in the United States, a governor spokesperson said. The pardon will aid Sillah in his efforts to fight deportation and become a United States citizen, the spokesperson said.
"While President Trump is obsessed with building walls to keep immigrants out, the New York family knows that its diversity is our strength," Cuomo said in a statement. "Compassion and justice is the Empire State way and Mr. Sillah is a father of five who deserves to remain with his family."
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The father of five works full-time as a porter on the Upper East Side and has held the job for 15 years. Sillah's wife and their children are United States citizens, and Sillah was detained following an attempt to secure permanent residency status in the country.
Sillah was taken into ICE custody after checking in with immigration officials on Jan. 31 in his attempt to secure permanent residency. He has been detained at ICE's Hudson County Correctional Center in Kearny, New Jersey and has not been able to see his family.
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"We commend Governor Cuomo for issuing a pardon and showing immigration authorities what we know, that Baba Sillah is a hardworking New Yorker who belongs back with his family. We will continue to support him and his family until he is returned home to his wife and kids who depend on him," 32BJ SEIU President Hector Figueroa said in a statement.
A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement that Sillah was first told to leave the United States in 1999 and was later taken into custody in 2011 but wasn't deported because the agency could not "obtain the proper travel documents for his removal." The spokesperson also said Sillah has local criminal convictions, but did not say which crimes.
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