Thread: Criminal Conviction Could Mean Ex-Student Is at Deportation Risk.

March 16, 2012, 10:02 PM ET.

Criminal Conviction Could Mean Ex-Student Is at Deportation Risk.

By Sumathi Reddy

After his conviction, Dharun Ravi now faces a risk of deportation, immigration experts said.

Mr. Ravi, 20 years old, was born in India but has lived in the U.S. for many years as a permanent resident. As authorities make a concerted effort to step up deportation of undocumented immigrants with criminal convictions, legal immigrants such Mr. Ravi are also affected.

“Bottom line is that I think he’s in serious jeopardy of deportation,” said David Leopold, an Ohio-based immigration attorney and past president of the national American Immigration Lawyers Association.

An appeal of the conviction—considered almost a certainty in Mr. Ravi’s case—likely would delay any immigration issues.

Still, if the conviction holds, Mr. Ravi could encounter more legal troubles.

Mr. Leopold said federal immigration authorities could seek to deport Mr. Ravi if he’s sentenced to a year or more of prison on the evidence-tampering conviction or anything else considered an “aggravated felony” under immigration law, even if the sentence is suspended. “There won’t be any relief he can seek, and he’ll be barred forever from returning to the country,” said Lori Nessel, a professor at Seton Hall University School of Law.

The only recourse he would have, experts said, is to prove his life would be threatened in India.

Mr. Ravi could also be deported if the bias intimidation and invasion of privacy charges are considered crimes of “moral turpitude,” regardless of whether he’s sentenced to prison time.

But under that scenario, Mr. Ravi could contest his deportation, and an immigration judge would weigh external factors in a decision, such as how long he’s been in the U.S.

Most immigrants aren’t deported until after they serve their criminal sentences. But even if Mr. Ravi isn’t sentenced to any jail time, he would have to be detained while his immigration case proceeds. “He’s most likely looking at mandatory detention,” said Mr. Leopold. “And there’s no bond in immigration court.”

Criminal Conviction Could Mean Ex-Student Is at Deportation Risk - Metropolis - WSJ

Is at Deportation Risk

Risk? He should be at 'deportation risk' at all moments he stands upon US soil illegally.

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