According to the media reports, New York Gov. David Paterson is seeking to reduce deportations by speeding up and allowing more pardons for illegal immigrants with old or minor convictions.

The New York Times has reported that Paterson's announcement in Albany Monday stems, in part, from his pardon in March of Qing Hong Wu, a 29-year-old information technology executive threatened with deportation based on his participation in several muggings when he was 15. He had not lived in his native China since he was 5.

Paterson said, "Some of our immigration laws, particularly with respect to deportation, are embarrassingly and wrongly inflexible. In New York we believe in renewal. In New York, we believe in rehabilitation. We just feel that some of these charges are very minor in nature and some of these conversations go back beyond a decade for people who've demonstrated that they've lived productive lives in the interim. We're separating these cases from ones where there are egregious crimes."

Department spokesman Matt Chandler said, "The Department of Homeland Security continues to focus on smart, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities. At the same time, we are applying common sense and using discretion on a case-by-case basis to ensure that our enforcement is meeting our priorities."

The Times further reported that the governor does not need legislative approval for his new policy. Only a governor's pardon can halt deportation in cases where new criminal databases dredge up old convictions, since immigration judges aren't allowed discretion, even in instances where the immigrant has married a U. S. citizen and has citizen children.

Jan Ting, a professor at Temple University Law School and a former assistant immigration commissioner, said, "There are people out there, maybe the governor included, who don't want to deport anybody, even people who have committed crimes. I understand the impulse, but it's an impulse that leads to open borders." (With Inputs from Agencies)