When criminal law and immigration law collide, there can be serious consequences. If you are convicted of a crime and you are not a U.S. citizen, you could get deported, even if you are a legal resident! Chambers Law Firm only handles criminal matters in Southern California, but top criminal law attorney Dan E. Chambers understands that your future depends on the outcome of your case—in more ways than one.
How can criminal convictions affect my immigration case?
If you plead guilty or are convicted of certain crimes, you could be deported if you are not a United States citizen. Even if you have a green card and are here legally, you could be sent back to your home country—it doesn’t matter if you haven’t lived there since you were a baby, and you don’t even speak the language! A criminal conviction could also prevent you from re-entering the US legally if you leave for any reason.
What crimes could get me deported?
There isn’t an official, complete list of the specific crimes that could get you deported from the US. But federal immigration law gives a few basic categories:
- Crimes of “moral turpitude”
- Aggravated felonies
- Drug crimes
- Weapons offenses
- Domestic violence or child abuse.
What are crimes of moral turpitude?
If you have never heard of crimes of “moral turpitude,” you’re definitely not the only one! Most people haven’t, and even federal immigration law doesn’t have a good definition for what they are. When the law was written, it was thought that these crimes showed that the defendant had bad moral character, and therefore wasn’t someone who should be allowed to stay in America.
Basically, crimes of “moral turpitude,” are crimes where someone steals, is dishonest, or intends to harm another person—crimes like theft, fraud, and assault. If you commit a crime of moral turpitude within five years of legally entering the US, or you have ever committed crimes of moral turpitude on two separate occasions, you will be eligible for deportation. (Of course, if you entered illegally or remained in the US illegally, you are always at risk of deportation.)
One defense that the law allows is that “petty offenses” are not considered crimes of moral turpitude. To qualify as a petty offense, the maximum possible sentence for the crime can only be one year, and you only had to actually serve less than six months. An experienced Southern California criminal law attorney can help you fight to get a lesser charge or lighter sentence so that even if you are convicted, you do not become eligible for deportation.
Can Proposition 47 help me?
In addition, Proposition 47 lessened the penalties for certain California crimes, and some crimes that used to be felonies are now only misdemeanors. This means that certain crimes can now be considered petty offenses for immigration purposes. This could mean good news for both your criminal and your immigration cases. If the maximum sentence for a crime was shortened, you can ask the court to apply it retroactively to your case—but it doesn’t happen automatically. Contact Chambers Law Firm to learn if Proposition 47 will affect you.
What are aggravated felonies?
Unlike crimes of moral turpitude, there is an actual list of crimes that are considered aggravated felonies for deportation. In addition, you are deportable even if it is your first crime and you entered the US legally more than five years ago. Sometimes a crime of moral turpitude will also be considered an aggravated felony. A few examples of aggravated felonies include:
- Murder, rape, or sexual abuse of a minor
- Drug trafficking
- Weapons trafficking
- Violent crimes punishable by a year or more of imprisonment
- Theft crimes punishable by five or more years of imprisonment
- Human trafficking
- Pimping
- Failing to appear in court when you have been charged with a felony punishable by over two years imprisonment
- And many other crimes.
Do you have questions about your Southern California criminal law case?
If you or a loved one are facing criminal charges and are worried that it could lead to deportation, you need Southern California’s top criminal defense attorney, Dan E. Chambers, on your side!
Immigration law and criminal law are two very different, specialized fields, so you will still need to get another lawyer who focuses exclusively on your immigration issues. But for the very best criminal defense, contact Chambers Law Firm today by calling 714-760-4088, emailing dchambers@clfca.com, or sending a message via the Chat box at the bottom right of this page.
