John,

After President Biden recently pardoned his son, I am joining the call by grassroots groups and my colleagues in Congress to urge him to pardon thousands more people in his last months in office. Our community's fathers, brothers, mothers and loved ones deserve to be pardoned and join their families. They may not have a President as their father, but still deserve the same chance.

Pardons restore people’s rights, reunite families, and start to address unjust sentences and mass incarceration. President Biden can pardon anyone in federal prison, about 90% of whom are serving time for non-violent offenses.

I want to lift up the group Unified U.S. Deported Veterans’ request for President Biden to sign 25 pending requests to pardon undocumented U.S. veterans who served our country. They grew up in the United States, and when I met them, I was brought to tears hearing how they were ripped from their families and the only community they knew.

It's a shame that our country has abandoned and deported them after their service for minor infractions like marijuana use. After sacrificing and being willing to lay down their lives for the U.S. military, they deserve better than being left behind and separated from their communities.

Can you add your name to ask President Biden to pardon more people while he has the chance, including veterans at risk of deportation?

There are more people President Biden can pardon right now:

I recently joined more than 65 members of Congress urging President Biden to use his pardon powers to issue pardons to people who’ve been unjustly imprisoned, people on death row, elderly and chronically ill people, and women who were punished for defending themselves against their abusers.

Grassroots groups and Congresspeople have also called for President Biden to use his clemency powers to free 3,000 people serving time for marjiuana-related charges (as he pledged and has done for a few people so far) and free the longest-serving U.S. political prisoner, Native activist Leonard Peltier.

Since Trump has announced plans to speed up killing the 40 people on federal death row, there’s a narrow opportunity to save lives and clear all of these people before Trump takes office.

Please add your name to ask President Biden to pardon more people in his last few months of office, including veterans, people on death row, elderly and chronically ill people, and people with marijuana-related charges.

Thank you for taking action to address injustices in our criminal-legal system. Together, we will keep fighting for a humane immigration system and for true public safety, not over-criminalization or mass incarceration.

In solidarity,

Rashida

P.S. You can learn more about the group Unified U.S. Deported Veterans at https://www.uusdepvets.org.