IMMIGRANT FACES DEPORTATION FOR MARIJUANA POSSESSION

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A Mexican with legal residency in the United States is
facing deportation for possession of what he calls medical marijuana.

Ismael Valenzuela of Sacramento and his cancer-afflicted wife, Mae, said she
bought two pounds of marijuana in 1994 and planned to use it as a treatment
for pain.

Before a deportation hearing Monday, Valenzuela said he took the rap for his
ailing wife, an American citizen, when he pleaded guilty in 1995.

Now the 37-year-old truck driver says that he has paid his debt to society,
and that it would be unduly harsh on his five dependent children to force
him to return to Mexico.

"Is this the fairness the government is always talking about on the news? Is
this what they are talking about? Is this what America is about?" he said
Monday, his deeply etched face breaking into a frown.

Valenzuela's predicament stems from the federal Illegal Immigration Reform
and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which eleminated waivers for legal
immigrants facing deportation for felonies.

Previously, judges could grant waivers when deportation would hurt U.S.
citizens, such as Valenzuela's children.

The nonprofit Immigrant Legal Resource Center, which gathered Valenzuela,
his wife and their children for Monday's press conference, is using his case
to bolster their call for more lenient law. A judge on Monday postponed
making a decision in the case for 90 days.

"Current immigration law has resulted in separating thousands of families,"
said Mark Silverman, the group's attorney. "This law was not an
anti-immigration law but an anti-family law."

Valenzuela's legal troubles began in 1994, when Sacramento police got an
anonymous tip he had 60 kilograms of cocaine.

Valenzuela allowed police to search his home and trucks, even lending them
tools to remove panels in his van. He claims he did not know his wife had
stashed pot on the van's battery.

Mrs. Valenzuela used the pot to make compresses she used to relieve pain
from thyroid cancer.

When he pleaded guilty in 1995, a judge told Valenzuela his plea might
affect his immigration status. Valenzuela concedes he "wasn't paying
attention," but says his attorney should have explained the potential
consequences.

He was given an eight-month suspended prison sentence and ordered to give 90
days of community service. His conviction came a year before California
voters approved medical use of marijuana.