PARDON COULD HELP WOMAN STAY HERE

PORTLAND - A Norwegian woman facing deportation for a 12-year-old
marijuana conviction is eligible for a pardon, a federal judge said
Thursday.

But Kari Rein's chance to prove that growing six plants of marijuana
in 1992 is not an offense large enough to warrant losing her right to
live in the U.S. will not come for another three months.

Rein, 42, an Oregon resident since 1988, is entangled in a web of laws
dating to 1996, three years after she performed 240 hours of community
service and paid a $1,200 fine for growing marijuana in her Southern
Oregon mobile home.

The new law calls for immigrants who have committed one of 40 minor
crimes, including first time drug offenses, to be deported - even if
they have already fulfilled their sentence.

But the law also allows for a trial before an immigration judge, to
seek a permanent pardon for the earlier crime.

In December, Rein, 42, was separated from her husband and children at
the Seattle airport, as they returned from a vacation to Norway.

It was her eighth trip back to Oslo since her 1993 marijuana
conviction, but using new security technology installed after Sept.
11, that time customs officials her green card.

She was sent to an Oregon jail where she waited for three weeks
without bail, until a lawyer intervened.

Judge Michael Bennett said media reports had incorrectly described the
government's actions as tied to the Patriot Act.

``This is not a national security case - it's a perfectly ordinary
case,'' he said.

The new technology installed at the nation's airports is intended to
catch potential terrorists. But because it also brings up an
immigrant's past conviction record, it catches people such as Rein.

Norwegian newspapers, which have taken an intense interest in Rein,
have used her case as an illustration of America's exaggerated
vigilance. One of the main issues on the table, Bennett said, is
whether or not Rein's crime counts as an ``aggravated felony'' as
defined for the purpose of an immigration hearing.

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which
oversees cases in Oregon as well, ruled that possession of small
amounts of marijuana is not an aggravated felony.

``Growing marijuana is always different than possession,'' Bennett
said.

Rein's attorney plans to argue that, like a possession of less than an
ounce of marijuana, growing six plants is too minor of an infraction
to warrant deportation.

But prosecuting attorney Margaret Rosenat said, ``It does still appear
to be a trafficking offense on its face.'' ` `It doesn't feel quite
real,'' said Rein, flanked by her husband of 16 years, who is a U.S.
citizen. ``What people don't realize is that immigration laws have
been continually tightened up. This new law is breaking families apart.''