Can I get deported for a felony?

Can I get deported for a felony?

If you need assistance with your immigration status, call us today at (619) 746-8879

Any immigrant in the United States can be deported if s/he violates a US immigration law and the most common reason is the conviction of a crime of moral turpitude or an aggravated felony. If this is your case and you are at risk of being deported, please seek advice both from a criminal and immigration attorney as soon as possible and keep reading since this information will be useful to you.

An aggravated felony in immigration law is defined more broadly than in most state’s criminal laws and you can read more about it in Section 101(a)(43) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, or Section 1101(a)(43) of the US Code. Federal law names the following as aggravated felonies:

• Murder, rape, or sexual abuse of a
  minor;
• Illicit trafficking in a
  controlled substance;
• Illicit trafficking in firearms or
  destructive devices or in explosive materials;
• Money laundering or engaging in
  monetary transactions in property derived from specific unlawful activity if
  the amount of the funds exceeded $10,000;
• Certain explosive materials or
  firearms offenses;
• A crime of violence (not including
  a purely political offense) for which the term of imprisonment was at least one
  year;
• Theft (including receipt of stolen
  property) or burglary if the term of imprisonment was at least one year;
• Kidnapping or making a demand for
  or receipt of ransom;
• Child pornography;
• Racketeering, or gambling if a
  sentence of one-year imprisonment or more could have been imposed;
• Owning, controlling, managing, or
  supervising a prostitution business; transportation for the purpose of
  prostitution if committed for commercial advantage; or peonage, slavery,
  involuntary servitude, or trafficking in persons;
• Gathering or transmitting national
  defense information, disclosure of classified information, sabotage, treason,
  or compromising the identity of undercover intelligence agents;
• Fraud or deceit in which the loss
  to the victim or victims exceeds $10,000; or tax evasion in which the revenue
  loss to the Government exceeds $10,000;
• Alien smuggling, except a first
  offense for which the alien has affirmatively shown the purpose of assisting,
  abetting, or aiding only the alien’s spouse, child, or parent (and no other
  person);
• Illegal US entry by an alien who
  was previously deported on the basis of an aggravated felony conviction;
• Falsely making, forging,
  counterfeiting, mutilating, or altering a passport or instrument (document
  fraud) for which the term of imprisonment is at least 12 months; except in the
  case of a first offense for which the alien has affirmatively shown that the
  offense was committed for the purpose of assisting, abetting, or aiding the alien’s
  spouse, child, or parent (and no other person);
• Failure to appear for service of
  sentence if the underlying offense is punishable by imprisonment for five years
  or more;
• Commercial bribery,
  counterfeiting, forgery, or trafficking in vehicles the identification numbers
  of which have been altered, if the term of imprisonment is at least one year;
• Obstruction of justice, perjury or
  subornation of perjury, or bribery of a witness, for which the term of
  imprisonment is at least one year;
• Failure to appear before a court
  pursuant to a court order to answer to or dispose of a charge of a felony for
  which a sentence of two years’ imprisonment or more may be imposed;
• An attempt or conspiracy to commit
  an aggravated felony.

A longer list of crimes can also get an immigrant deported if he or she leaves the country, comes back and is put into removal proceedings upon return. These people are considered to be seeking readmission to the US and any crimes they may have committed before can consider them inadmissible and deportable.

A longer list of crimes can get an immigrant deported if he or she leaves the country, comes back, and is put into removal proceedings upon return. Such persons, even if they are let back into the country, are considered to be seeking readmission to the United States, so any crimes they have committed since their previous admission may make them “inadmissible” and deportable.

You can read more about inadmissibility and non-immigrant waivers here.

What are crimes of moral turpitude?

Crimes of moral turpitude are not well defined in the United States immigration law but the most common elements in them include fraud, larceny and intent to harm persons or things. Theft and dishonesty are always considered of moral turpitude, as well as assault with the intent to rob or kill, spousal abuse and aggravated driving under the influence.

To know if your offense is considered of moral turpitude or not you can take a certified disposition from the clerk of the court where your case was heard and go through it with an immigration attorney to learn if your conviction was found to be one or not. Depending on the facts of the case, we also commonly advise clients to have their background checks run via FBI background checks as well as a CAL-DOJ background check. These can commonly be obtained at any livescan office. Once they receive the results, we carefully analyze the results together with any paperwork from prior hearings in court to fully analyze the client’s prior criminal history and how this affects his/her immigration status.

How can you protect yourself from removal if you have been charged with a crime?

If you have been charged with a crime and are not a US citizen, you would best be served by hiring an attorney that practices both criminal defense and immigration law. Here at Kannan Law, we practice both areas of the law.

If you are applying to adjust your status to that of a lawful permanent resident but you have a criminal history, we will carefully analyze your case to put you in the best position possible to apply for adjustment of status.

Similarly, if you are a lawful permanent resident applying to become a US citizen but you have a prior criminal history, we will similarly analyze your prior criminal history and how this affects your current immigration status and any risks associated with moving forward. That way, by having the advice from an attorney who practices both immigration law and criminal defense, you will be in the best position possible to move forward on your case.

Seeking out to an immigration attorney is also a good idea if you are not a permanent resident but have a non-immigrant visa since you can also be removed without a hearing before a judge in immigration court.

In Kannan Law you will find assistance from both criminal and immigration lawyers in the state of California, so we are sure to be the best option for you if you are an immigrant who has been convicted of a crime. Call us today at (619) 746-8879 or contact us online and let’s set up an appointment as soon as possible.