Mike Burrows is as an American as any citizen. The 52-year-old legal permanent resident was a baseball player at Glendale High School and Glendale Community college, and a golden gloves boxer in his twenties. A professional musician who has worked in the automobile and advertising industries, he has worked ambitiously and paid taxes most of his adult life. He has a long family history in the United States, with U.S. citizen grandparents. His grandfather was a state senator in South Dakota. Burrows is a loving father, productive resident, and hard worker. He immigrated from Canada when he was just two years old.

But he has faced a 9-year battle against deportation because of an expunged misdemeanor charge over holding a stolen 8-track tape deck for a friend when he was a teenager. Because of the Illegal Immigration and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, he would face a lifetime ban from re-entry into the United States. He would most likely never see his elderly parents again, especially his mother who has Alzheimers and is too sick to travel.

Burrows faces a deportation mandate in the next few days. Having exhausted appeals, a pardon from California Governor Jerry Brown is the family's last hope. Here's what you can do:

1. Call Governor Jerry Brown at (916) 445-2841 and ask that he issue a pardon and halt the deportation of Mike Burrows.

2. Send a fax to the governor at (916) 445-4633 

3. Sign this petition asking the governor to step in and make sure Mike Burrows spends the holidays with his family in the only home he's ever known.