HARTFORD — A federal appeals court is scheduled to hear the case of a Connecticut woman who was ordered deported because of criminal convictions even though she was pardoned by the state.
Arguments in the case of Wayzaro Walton are scheduled Tuesday before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong says he will defend the legitimacy of state pardons, which are issued by a state board. Federal immigration officials contend a state pardon needs to come from a governor.
Walton, of Hartford, came to the U.S. from England with her family in the 1980s when she was 4 years old. Federal officials want to deport her for convictions for felony shoplifting and less serious crimes.
The state parole board pardoned her in January.
