High court rules against NY man denied re-entry to US
Published:Thursday | May 19, 2016 | 9:18 AMAP
UNITED STATES
WASHINGTON, (AP):
The Supreme Court is making it easier for the government to deport or otherwise remove people who are not US citizens if they are convicted of seemingly minor crimes.
The justices ruled 5-3 yesterday that a man who spent 23 years living in New York as a lawful permanent resident can be barred from re-entering the country because of a 1999 conviction for attempted arson.
The court said George Luna Torres' state law conviction qualifies as an aggravated felony for purposes of immigration law.
Luna served one day in prison for the crime but otherwise had a clean record since his parents brought him into the country from the Dominican Republic in 1983.
Luna visited the Dominican Republic in 2006, but was denied re-entry to the United States.