ALBANY — A former Ground Zero recovery worker could escape deportation after Gov. Cuomo on Wednesday granted him clemency.
Carlos Cardona, who was convicted of a non-violent drug crime in 1990, has been detained since February when federal immigration authorities took him from his Queens home weeks after President Trump took office.
Cardona is an undocumented immigrant construction worker from Colombia.
Cuomo’s order of clemency came days after the Daily News reported on his potential deportation.
“In the more than 30-years since Carlos Cardona has lived in this country, he has built a family and given back to his community, including in the aftermath of 9/11 when he assisted with Ground Zero recovery efforts at the expense of his own health," Cuomo said. "It is my hope this action will not only reunite Mr. Cardona with his wife and daughter, but also send a message about the values of fairness and equality that New York was founded upon."
Cardona was a cleanup and hazmat recovery worker at Ground Zero following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
He now suffers from acute respiratory issues, depression, anxiety and PTSD.
He was 21 years old when he was convicted in 1990 of attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in Queens. He has not been in trouble with the law since.
Cuomo said without receiving clemency, Cardona, who came to the U.S. in 1986, would almost certainly be deported to Colombia, where he would not be able to receive suitable health care.
Cardona married an American who is also a former Ground Zero recovery work and has a 19-year-old daughter in college.
Cardona’s cause had been taken up by a number of people, including Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Queens).
"Mr. Cardona is deserving of our thanks — not the cold shoulder," Crowley (D-Queens) wrote recently in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Thomas Homan.