With the Biden administration’s recent announcement that it was issuing widespread pardons for people convicted of federal marijuana possession, progressives and criminal justice advocates rejoiced that the president had finally reversed course on a stance preserved in amber since the 1990s on the use of the substance, which at this point is recreationally legal in nearly half of US states.
Yet, in the immediate afterglow of the announcement, some critics began pointing out limits in its scope, with one particular disappointment coming quickly into focus: It would do almost nothing for noncitizens, for whom any involvement with the marijuana industry, let alone criminal convictions related to the substance, have spelled the danger of loss of status and deportation. The Biden administration explicitly left noncitizens out of its pardon, leaving a great uncertainty…
