Gov. Doug Ducey should (but won’t) pardon Tucson activist
Opinion: Alejandra Pablos is the wrong kind of activist. At least to Ducey.
EJ Montini
If Alejandra Pablos happened to be a different kind of activist Gov. Doug Ducey would grant her a pardon.
But she’s not.
She is a reproductive rights and immigrant rights activist.
From the point of view of a politician like Ducey, tied as he is to local anti-abortion power brokers like the Center for Arizona Policy and national anti-immigrant power brokers like Donald Trump, Pablos has no chance.
A roomful of supporters showed up at Pablos’ hearing before an immigration judge in Tucson. The judge ruled against her.
Lots of supporters, but ...
Pablos needs Ducey to pardon her because as a younger woman she did some dumb things, criminal convictions from 2005 to 2010 that included a DUI, endangerment, aggravated DUI and solicitation to possess a dangerous drug.
She did her time, including spending two years in detention in Eloy.
For the past couple of years she has worked for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health in Annandale, Va.
Turning her life around
“I’ve taken responsibility for my mistakes, but when is it enough? I’ve completed my sentences, I’ve turned my life around and transformed myself into someone who works every day to help others — but when is it enough?” Pablos said Wednesday.
A pardon from Ducey would erase the offenses used for her deportation and might get her a reprieve.
“I’ve been living here since I was a baby, and Arizona is the place where I’ve grown up and learned how to fight for our rights,” Pablos said.
Pardons we know about
Trump has granted pardons to former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for criminal contempt of court. He’s pardoned right-wing author, filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza for making illegal campaign contributions.
Kim Kardashian convinced him to commute the sentence of a woman who was convicted of conspiracy to possess cocaine, attempted possession of cocaine and money laundering.
Pablos made the kind of mistakes that opened the door for her deportation.
The wrong kind of activist
But she turned her life around, and if she were a different kind of activist a politician like Ducey would praise her for that turnaround, talk about the need for second chances and grant her the pardon.
But she is a reproductive rights and immigrant rights activist and for an ambitious politician like Ducey to pardon her he’d have to be willing to take heat from his core support group and perhaps even the president.
No chance.
Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.
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