Not so Happy New Year

Todd Heisler/The New York Times

Qing Hong Wo was 15 years old and did some very bad things as a youth and has paid his price, spending some of his youth at reform school. The judge, who remembered the pitfalls of Little Italy in the 1950s, urged him to use his sentence — three to nine years in a reformatory — as a chance to turn his life around. Mr. Wo has done this and made good use of his time. The judge is attempting to help out but even he is somewhat powerless to do anything of the behalf of this young man. Qing is brilliant in math and has a fiancée who he would like to marry. He isn’t able to because he is presently incarcerated, as he has been since 2007 when he turned himself in. The guy has been here since he was 5, his mom; a janitor who used to count on help for money from her son is now legal. His fiancée makes good money but lawyers are eating away at any savings that they may have to get a place for themselves and other family members. An Asian-American civil rights group is meeting with Peter Kiernan, counsel to the governor, to discuss the petition for a pardon, which Mr. Kiernan said was “being seriously considered.”  The governor of New York ought to pardon this young man who exemplifies the American Dream!  He can be saved from being deported and he should. It would be a great way to start of the Year of the Tiger and a positive message to the Asian Community that America a place for dreams to come true and justice to take place.