Crimes and Deportation

A Brief Look at the Immigration Consequences of a Criminal Conviction

People make mistakes. If the mistake is criminal, there is usually one form of punishment; but for the immigrant, they are often two: criminal sanctions and immigration consequences. The first fear an immigrant will experience after a criminal conviction, aside from confinement for the crime, is deportation. This article briefly discusses some of the immigration issues involved with deportation based on a conviction, and it mentions some of the defenses to deportation.

The Drastic Consequence: Deportation

An immigrant may be placed in removal proceedings after being charged with any ground of inadmissibility found under Immigration & Nationality Act (“INA”) §§ 212(a) or 237(a). INA § 240.1(a)(2). They are several dozens of crimes listed under these statutory provisions, but some are worse than others.

An aggravated felony conviction is the worst type of conviction for an immigrant. An immigrant convicted of an aggravated felony is “conclusively presumed” to be deportable. INA 238(c). Moreover, a person convicted of an aggravated felony has almost no remedy to deportation, as they are ineligible for cancellation of removal, asylum, and voluntary departure. The list of crimes considered aggravated felonies is found at INA § 101(a)(43), and it includes the following crimes: Murder, rape, sexual abuse of a minor, illicit trafficking in a controlled substance, money laundering, many firearm offenses, certain crimes of violence, many theft or burglary offenses, certain child pornography crimes, racketeering, some prostitution crimes, many fraud cases involving more than $10,000, many alien smuggling offenses, some perjury, bribery, and obstruction of justice crimes, and attempt or conspiracy to commit crimes involving these offenses.

Other crimes rendering one deportable include those involving terrorism, domestic violence offenses, drugs, use of fraudulent documents for immigration benefits, false claims to U.S. citizenship, illegal voting, a crime involving moral turpitude, or multiple crimes involving moral turpitude. A crime involving moral turpitude is one which the court considers “an act of baseness, vileness or depravity in the private and social duties which a man owes to his fellow men, or to society in general, contrary to the accepted and customary rule of right and duty between man and man.” Bouvier’s Law Dictionary (3rd Ed. 1914).

Relief from Deportation

If an immigrant is charged with being deportable, the first step in defense of the charge is to ascertain if there is a hole in the government’s case. It may be that the charging documents are defective. If the crime is one of involving moral turpitude, it may be possible to show that the crime does not meet the exact definition for deportation purposes. The law provides that one can be deported for a single crime involving moral turpitude if the crime is:

“committed within five years (or 10 years in the case of an alien provided lawful permanent resident status under section 245(j) ) after the date of admission, and (II) [the immigrant] is convicted of a crime for which a sentence of one year or longer may be imposed.”

INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(i).

Thus, elements of the law that must be examined include the dates of an immigrant’s admission and whether the crime was one for which a one year sentence may be imposed. An experienced immigration attorney may also be able to show that the crime is not one involving moral turpitude. There is considerable ambiguity in the laws involving what crimes are base, vile, and depraved.

The attorney may also show that the petty offense exception applies. This exception may help a person avoid deportation if the offense involving moral turpitude was not punishable by more than one year in confinement and the person was not sentenced to more than six months. In addition, there is a youthful offender exception that applies to some minors.