Rice County in center of immigration issue
Rice County in the spotlight as they are faced with a decision. 36 year old Ched Nin is asking the Court to set aside one of his convictions. Attorney John Fossum said Nin, who is Cambodian, was 30 years old when he committed several crimes in 2010. Fossum said, “they were resolved with 2 felony convictions and a misdemeanor conviction. Each of them would make him deportable”. But there’s one in particular, 2nd degree assault with a dangerous weapon, which, under federal immigration law, is an aggravated felony, “which means that deportation is automatic and not subject to the discrimination of
the immigration judge”. By setting aside the sentence, an judge would then make the decision on deportation, Fossum said, “the problem with that from our perspective is, if we agree to that, then we’re agreeing that we’re going to decide, based on deportation factors, what the appropriate conviction level is for somebody”. Fossum says that’s a dangerous door to open, “we can’t be deciding that the criminal aliens get a better deal than the criminal citizens”. Nin spent a couple of years in prison for the convictions and was ordered deported in 2012 but Cambodia wouldn’t take him. Fossum said, “if the deportation laws are unfair, the people to talk to are in Washington not in Faribault”. Fossum’s office and Nin’s attorney have until next Wednesday to submit written arguments for Judge Neuville. Then Judge Neuville will make a decision as to whether that particular conviction will be set aside. Note he is not an immigration judge. Nin was born in a Thai Refugee camp and has spent much of his life in Faribault. In August, he and seven other Minnesota men were detained by immigration authorities and slated for deportation to Cambodia. Most have never been in that country. Their offenses include selling drugs, aggravated robbery and an attempted murder 18 years ago. Like Nin, many in local refugee communities never applied for citizenship citing cost, civics and English tests.
Dundas discusses “vision triangle” and resident responsibility
The Dundas Council held a near Northfieldian council meeting, in terms of length! Administrator John McCarthy said some small items took more time than anticipated, including how to work with property owners regarding the care of their landscapes. McCarthy said staff has been working on trying to make the ordinances clearer to understand, a little bit more enforceable and allow the property owners more opportunity to respond. What precipitated conversation was what’s called the “vision triangle”. There’s been concern over some shrubs and trees blocking intersection sight lines. Also, a few property owners, McCarthy said, “decided not to maintain their boulevards in a manner that people normally maintain them”. McCarthy said enforcement mechanisms weren’t really effective. Council tabled any action to get more information.
Fare for All for sale Thursday
Fare for All Holiday packs will be available for sale at the Church of St. Dominic in Northfield on Thursday between 3:30pm and 5:30pm. The program has no income requirements and is open to everyone. There are no forms and they accept cash, credit, debit and EBT cards. For more information go to fareforall.org.
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