Thread: Which Crimes Can Get Legal Immigrants Deported?

Which Crimes Can Get Legal Immigrants Deported?

By Stephanie Rabiner, Esq. at FindLaw.com
Thu May 31, 2012 12:44am EDT

In February, a top Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official admitted that the department has turned its attention to undocumented immigrants who commit crimes in the U.S. These people are first in line to be deported.

But the reality is that you don't need to be undocumented to be deported for a crime. The U.S. can revoke your green card or work visa if you are convicted of a specific type of crime even though you are legally in the country.

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, certain convictions make aliens ineligible for admission into the United States. This includes convictions for drug offenses, sex offenses, fraud, theft, aggravated felonies, weapons possession, crimes of moral turpitude and domestic violence. Many crimes punishable by more than one year of confinement are also part of this list.

Just because you're already in the U.S., it doesn't mean that this law does not apply to you. It does. If you are in the U.S. legally, you can still lose your status. Immigration officials may choose to revoke your green card or work visa if they are notified of your conviction. This also means you can be deported for the crime.

Moreover, a conviction will hamper an immigrant's ability to stay in this country permanently. People who apply for citizenship or permanent resident status may be denied if they have a criminal record.

The reality is that U.S. citizens are the only individuals who can safely commit a crime and remain in this country. All immigrants, legal or not, can be deported for a crime if it's serious enough.

Which Crimes Can Get Legal Immigrants Deported? | Reuters

So where are the lists of crimes they are deporting immigrants and illegal aliens for?

They wont give us that list will they? They wont because that would tell us WHAT CRIMES ILLEGAL ALIENS GET TO COMMIT ON AMERICAN SOIL WITHOUT DEPORTATION!!!!!

W

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, certain convictions make aliens ineligible for admission into the United States. This includes convictions for drug offenses, sex offenses, fraud, theft, aggravated felonies, weapons possession, crimes of moral turpitude and domestic violence. Many crimes punishable by more than one year of confinement are also part of this list.
Just because you're already in the U.S., it doesn't mean that this law does not apply to you. It does. If you are in the U.S. legally, you can still lose your status. Immigration officials may choose to revoke your green card or work visa if they are notified of your conviction. This also means you can be deported for the crime.

This also means you can be deported for the crime.

All immigrants, legal or not, can be deported for a crime if it's serious enough.

Crimes Causing Removal from the U.S.
(for Undocumented/Illegal Aliens)

An undocumented (or "illegal") alien is someone who entered the U.S. without government permission and has no legal immigration status. Unfortunately, undocumented aliens may be removed from the United States at any time whether or not they have been convicted of a crime. However, depending on the individual's circumstances, an undocumented alien may be able to file an immigrant petition and "adjust status" to become a legal alien while residing in the U.S.[1]

If you are an undocumented alien seeking admission to the U.S., the government may remove you from the country if you have allegedly been involved in any of the following "inadmissible" offenses:

Drug Trafficking Crimes,

Prostitution Crimes,

Convictions of More Than one Crime, or

Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude

Scroll down further for a detailed explanation of these crimes.

If you are a non-citizen who's been accused of committing an inadmissible offense, there is still hope you may not have to leave the U.S. Please call our Los Angeles immigration criminal defense attorneys for help at (88 327-4652.


Drug Trafficking Crimes are inadmissible offenses

An alien is not admissible into the U.S. if the Attorney General reasonably believes he/she engaged in drug trafficking. Furthermore, if an alien is a spouse or child of a drug trafficker and knowingly received money from the trafficking within the last five years, that person is inadmissible as well.[2]

Prostitution Crimes are inadmissible offenses

An alien who comes to the U.S. to engage in prostitution, traffic prostitutes or receive proceeds from prostitution is inadmissible into the United States IF this behavior allegedly occurred within ten years of having applied to the U.S. for admission or adjustment of status.[3]

Convictions of More than One Crime are inadmissible offenses

An alien who gets convicted of two or more crimes AND gets sentenced to at least five (5) years total for them is inadmissible into the U.S.[4]

Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude (CIMTs) are inadmissible offenses

CIMTs, which stands for crimes involving moral turpitude, refer to offenses that are particularly serious such as murder, voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping, rape, prostitution, perjury, and some California theft crimes. DUIs are usually not considered CIMTs.

Aliens who have been convicted of a CIMT, or who have admitted to committing a CIMT, are inadmissible into the U.S. However, under the "petty offense exception," committing only one CIMT won't trigger inadmissibility if:

1.the maximum sentence that the judge may impose for that CIMT is one year, AND

2.the judge actually sentences the defendant to six months or less of jail time[5]

So, for example, the CIMT of petty theft carries only a maximum six-month jail sentence for a first offense. Therefore, if you've been convicted of petty theft and it's your first conviction, then you may still be admissible into the U.S.

CIMTs is a cloudy, ever-changing area of the law. For a more detailed description of CIMTs, click here on our Crimes involving Moral Turpitude page.


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[1] To learn more about adjusting status, visit the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services website.

[2] 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(C)

[3] 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(D)

[4] 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(B)

[5] 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A) Another exception to the CIMT rule concerns aliens who were under eighteen when the CIMT allegedly occurred: As long as the sentence ended more than five years prior to the alien applying to the U.S. for admission, the alien will not be removed for that offense.

California Crimes making Undocumented Aliens Inadmissible to the U.S.