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To: The Honorable Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York

Bring Pascal home & keep our family together

Stop the deportation of Pascal Charpentier, our son, our brother, a man engaged to an heroic Covid nurse, a friend to many, an mentor to at-risk youths, and a builder of businesses, by granting him a pardon today.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has shown mercy and forgiveness by issuing pardons to people who have engaged in thoroughgoing rehabilitation while serving their sentences. We ask Gov. Cuomo to again rely on his belief that people can transform and grow and mature beyond their actions while they were teenagers. Pascal is a U.S. citizen who, because of a legal technicality, sits in ICE detention awaiting possible deportation unless Gov. Cuomo takes action and grants him a pardon.

#ClemencyCuomo #SpeakUp4Pascal

Why is this important?

We ask that you please grant Pascal Charpentier's pardon application to forever protect him from the threat of deportation by Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) and help him stay in the U. S. with his family and friends.

Pascal was born on a U. S. Air Force base in Germany. His father became a U. S. Citizen during boot camp where he took a citizenship oath prior to his tour of service during the Vietnam War. He served in the Air Force from 1968 to 1972. Also, Pascal’s maternal grandfather was a U. S. Citizen thereby transferring citizenship to his mother. Some of the documents that would build on the foundation of his parents' sworn testimony in immigration court on August 18th, 2020 are being withheld by Dept. of Homeland Security.

The felony that triggered his arrest by ICE is more than 30 years old. Charpentier had been caught joyriding in a car that belonged to a friend, but had been reported stolen. Also at 18 years old, Pascal’s life took an unfortunate turn. He was convicted and imprisoned for 24-and-a-half-years for his association with a group involved in the 1990 New York City subway robbery and murder of Utah tourist Brian Watkins. Charpentier was unaware that any violence was about to occur and was not present when it occurred. He was sentenced to 25 years-to-life for his non-violent unarmed association. The parole board released him early due to his excellent record while incarcerated. The film 23 Reasons Why 23 Years is Enough details the case.

After Charpentier’s 2015 release, he emerged with two Bachelor of Science degrees and a Master’s from the New York Theological Seminary. Since that time he has been building a production company and forming and running From Bars II Beyond, a non-profit for at-risk youth media training with a focus on preventing their own incarceration.

Pascal said, “I have been in this country for my entire life, short a couple of months due to the fact that my father was serving in the United States Air Force. If it hadn’t been for his service to this country, I probably would have been born in Queens, New York. At the core of this case is a very large family of American citizens who are suffering. I can’t even fathom how my family is able to continue bearing us being torn apart as this case proceeds. This unlawful arrest is why I am in an orange jumpsuit at a N. J. County jail, and not in my office doing intake of a client, or meeting with my volunteer team on our next program cycle for at-risk kids, or picking up my fiancée from a hard day’s work at the hospital."

A wide circle of friends, family and associates have come together to ask you, Gov. Cuomo for this pardon. If you can see your way to helping Pascal he will resume his productive life. His sister is planning his wedding. His fiancée and her two children are waiting at his home to welcome him back with open arms. His business partners are impatient for him to be able to get back to work. His youthful mentees, who he's been working with at From Bars II Beyond, are hoping to be able to again seek his advice.

At this point, Pascal can pick up the life he was living before his arrest on July 6th, 2020. The longer he is detained the harder that will be.

He served his time. He grew into a thoughtful, careful, creative, and useful member of society. We need him here. Thank you for your consideration.

Links

Updates

2023-11-07 13:25:45 -0800

There have been several developments in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) efforts against Shakoure. First and most alarming is that Judge Charles R. Conroy issued a deportation order to Haiti, a place Shakoure was not born and has never lived.
Because of the deportation order, there is increased urgency to gather support for a petition of clemency which was recently expanded and submitted to New York Governor Kathy Hochul. We want to get as much support as possible to encourage the governor to finally commute Shakoure’s already-served sentence. That action would remove the reason that ICE seeks to deport him.
Please take a few seconds to sign a new petition targeting Gov. Hochul and help stop this miscarriage of justice. https://tinyurl.com/26mw4sjk
We need to show that his case has not been forgotten. We still stand strong against the unjust deportation order.

2021-02-18 11:23:50 -0800

Here is a link to a video of the Welcome Home Rally: https://www.facebook.com/MPowerChange/videos/4032212740145854

2021-02-16 12:03:26 -0800

U.S. Citizen Pascal “Shakoure” Charpentier, Wrongfully Detained by ICE for 219 Days is Released!
Deportation Case Remains in Place as Family, Friends & Activists Welcome Him Home On-Line Rally
Join us! Thurs., Feb. 18 at 12 Noon Eastern Time.
Via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvd-ygrzorG9F3pfpLrDHccgo_WYVy6_yy
On the morning of Friday, February 12, 2021, ICE detainee Pascal “Shakoure” Charpentier was released from Bergen County Jail where he spent 219 days under threat of deportation to a country in which he has never lived. Though Shakoure now has the ability to defend his case against baseless claims from the outside—and until the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) admits Shakoure is a United States citizen, he is not truly free. An online rally on Thursday, February 18 will break down details of how the U.S. government weaponizes immigration policies, for the purpose of placing thousands of Black and brown citizens behind bars.

2021-02-04 07:50:13 -0800

https://act.newmode.net/.../mpower.../email-ice-freeshakoure
With one click, send emails to a number of ICE officials who have the power to release Shakoure TODAY: Joanna Delgado (Acting AFOD), Waverly Boyd (Supervising Deportation Officer at Bergen County), and Kristopher Dawson (ICE agent).
Watch Twitter, if you have an account, and boost the tweets about Shakoure that will begin at Noon EST. Thank you!

2021-02-03 13:02:37 -0800

Thank you for being part of the campaign to bring Pascal "Shakoure" Charpentier home.
In early October 2020, just as Shakoure was filing for a pardon from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, we created this petition. So far over 30,000 people have signed to ask the governor to approve that petition. On December 24th, but despite the horrific conditions in NY prisons and jails, Cuomo only issued 21 pardons and clemencies. Shakoure was not on that list.
Join MPower Change, Freedom to Thrive, the New Sanctuary Coalition, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, CAIR NY, African Communities Together, The Family and Friends of Pascal Shakoure Charpentier, & more for a Twitter Storm on Thursday, February 4th, 12 pm ET. We will tell Shakoure’s story and push out the click to email action page. Look for tweets from organizers and do what you can to amplify them.
Let’s bring Shakoure home.
Thank you!

2020-12-14 10:27:55 -0800

Got a moment to help free Shakoure? https://act.newmode.net/action/mpower-change/tweet-cuomo-pardon-shakoure This tool makes it easy to tweet our your support.

2020-12-13 05:26:21 -0800

20,000 signatures reached

2020-12-09 13:27:51 -0800

We are so close the the time that the decision about who will receive a pardon from Governor Cuomo will be made. All indications we have show that they are taking Pascal's application very seriously. On Monday, December 14th we plan to send our petition signatures to the Governor's office and the Clemency Board. If you haven't shared this petition with your contacts, we ask that you do so now so that we can boost the number of signatures up to 15,000. Every name counts right now. Can you please take some time and share this petition so that we can bring Pascal home for the holidays? Thank you for your support. Here is our Facebook page if you'd like more information.
https://www.facebook.com/FreePascalShakoureCharpentier

2020-11-26 00:23:30 -0800

10,000 signatures reached

2020-11-24 19:49:46 -0800

5,000 signatures reached

2020-11-19 11:54:16 -0800

We have entered a new critical phase in our effort to Bring Pascal Shakoure Charpentier home. Developments in court indicate that a clemency from NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo may be our only way to avoid a potential deportation order. Please help boost this petition by sharing it with friends and family. Here is an online rally where you'll get to hear from Pascal, his fiancée and his mother as well as other supporters. https://www.facebook.com/NewSanctuaryCoalition/videos/212110316986714

2020-10-29 09:24:40 -0700

Friends, help needed. Tomorrow we will be turning over a batch of signatures to Gov. Cuomo asking that he sign our petition for clemency for Pascal Shakoure Charpentier. We have 1,911 already. Can you sign and share this so that we get over the 2,000 mark?

2020-09-30 15:55:04 -0700

1,000 signatures reached

2020-09-26 10:00:40 -0700

500 signatures reached

2020-09-19 12:01:00 -0700

Thank you for signing this Free Pascal Shakoure Charpentier petition. You signature gives us hope that we can free him!
Here are some further actions you can take:
Like and follow https://www.facebook.com/FreePascalShakoureCharpentier
Repost the materials you find there.
Call and voice your opinions with this sample script:
"In the case of Pascal Shakoure Charpentier, please urge DHS to release ALL the files. New York City is his home. He was born on a US Air Force Base in Germany. Release him from detention. You have a duty to this US Citizen to release these records. You are being paid by my US dollars. Why are you hiding the records? You work for the people. This is not just. Release the records. He runs nonprofits and helps the community. Why aren’t you releasing him? It is up to you."
Judge Dara F. Reid - EOIR COURT: 646-638-5766
DHS Counsel Office: 347-609-5426
Share this petition and Use the hashtags on your posts:
#SpeakUp4Pascal
#StopTheDeportation
Thank you!