Immigrants facing deportation, drug offenders and ex-lawmaker receive Jerry Brown pardons

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - No governor in California history has given more former offenders a chance at redemption through a pardon or commuted sentence than Gov. Jerry Brown, who on Wednesday granted clemency to a group that included onetime drug offenders, immigrants facing deportation and a former state senator.

Brown issued 38 pardons for people convicted of felonies who had completed their sentences and commuted the existing sentences of 70 more.

Pardons given to three men may allow them to avoid deportation by federal immigration agents. As the Trump administration has ramped up its enforcement of immigration laws, Brown has increasingly turned his attention to the cases of immigrants at risk