Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer pardoned a 74-year-old Albanian refugee convicted of second-degree murder, effectively halting his deportation proceedings initiated by the Biden administration after nearly five decades in the United States.
Decades-Old Murder Case Resurfaces
Deda Malota Margilaj received a full pardon on July 2 for his 1978 conviction in the fatal shooting of a man at a Detroit gas station in 1975. Margilaj served only four years for the murder before his release. The Biden administration had placed him in removal proceedings based on that conviction, but Whitmer’s pardon removes the legal basis for deportation.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer Pardons Albanian Refugee Facing Deportation Years After Murder Conviction
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Margilaj arrived in the United States alone as a 17-year-old refugee from Albania and later established a business in Detroit. According to the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice, which represented him, Margilaj shot the victim while defending his brother, who had been shot first. The incident resulted in his second-degree murder conviction three years later.
Questions About Immigration Enforcement
The pardon raises concerns about why someone convicted of murder remained in the country for 48 years before facing removal proceedings. Legal experts note that under federal immigration law, crimes involving moral turpitude—offenses considered inherently vile or contrary to accepted societal morality—can still warrant deportation regardless of state pardons. The interaction between state clemency powers and federal immigration authority remains unclear in this case.
Joshua Dubin, Executive Director of the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice, stated the pardon demonstrates executive clemency’s power to address lifelong consequences of old convictions. He said Margilaj can now spend time with family and friends without fear that has limited his life for decades.
Federal vs State Authority
The case highlights tensions between state pardoning powers and federal immigration enforcement. While Whitmer’s pardon erases the state conviction, federal immigration law operates independently from state criminal justice systems. Murder qualifies as a crime involving moral turpitude under immigration statutes, potentially allowing deportation proceedings to continue despite the gubernatorial pardon. The final determination rests with federal immigration authorities, who must decide whether to pursue removal based on the underlying conduct rather than the pardoned conviction itself.