Connecticut Attorney General William Tong. Photo: Michael Marciano/ALM

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong Friday filed an amicus brief in support of a Hartford woman facing deportation over her pardoned criminal record.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can deport immigrants who have criminal records, but supporters say Wayzaro Walton has a clean slate, which the federal agency has failed to acknowledge.

The issue hinges on Connecticut's delegation of pardon powers to a governor-appointed board, rather than the governor, prompting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to reject the pardon.

But Tong's brief calls out what he referred to as ICE's failure to recognize Connecticut's pardon laws. His brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit supports Walton's emergency motion to stay her removal from the U.S.

Walton is a British citizen married to an American. She has lived in the U.S. since she was 4 years old, and also has a daughter with American citizenship. She faces deportation over a criminal record dating back to 2006 for a felony larceny and misdemeanor conviction for a shoplifting arrest, according to news reports.

Click here to read the full brief

But supporters say federal immigration officials are discounting that Connecticut gave Walton a fresh start in January when the state's Board of Pardons and Paroles issued a pardon that took effect Wednesday.

“ICE's incorrect and unconstitutional misinterpretation of how Connecticut's statutory scheme interacts with the Pardon Waiver Clause deeply prejudices Connecticut residents like Ms. Walton,” Tong wrote in his brief. “It means, in violation of Ms. Walton's Fifth Amendment right to equal protection under law, that Ms. Walton faces immediate deportation and separation from her family—while an identically-situated person just across the state line in New York or Massachusetts, pardoned pursuant to state laws that are no more reliable or procedurally fair than those in Connecticut, would be at liberty to remain in this country.”

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment by deadline.

The brief follows Tong's letter Wednesday to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Hartford field office, seeking Walton's release, pending the outcome of her appeal, and a stay of deportation.

Another high-profile advocate, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, also acted on Walton's behalf. Lamont sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, asking that her agency recognize pardons granted in Connecticut.