QUICK REFERENCE CHART For Determining Key Immigration ...

1 Immigrant Legal Resource Center QUICK REFERENCE CHART For Determining Key Immigration Consequences Of Selected california Offenses1 January 2016 For suggestions or questions about the CHART , write and see endnote 1. DEFINITION OF TERMS USC, LPR, Undocumented. In these materials, a United States citizen is referred to as a USC, a lawful permanent resident ( green card holder) is referred to as an LPR, and a person with no current lawful Immigration status is referred to as an undocumented person. For more information on these and other forms of Immigration status, see Note: Overview and Note: Relief Toolkit.

2 Aggravated Felony (AF). This conviction generally brings the worst Immigration consequences. The AF definition at 8 USC 1101(a)(43) includes twenty-one provisions that describe hundreds of offenses, including some misdemeanors. Some but not all offenses require a sentence imposed of a year or more in order to be an AF. Aggravated felons are deportable and ineligible to apply for most forms of discretionary relief from deportation, including asylum, voluntary departure, and cancellation of removal, and are subject to mandatory detention without bond. A conviction for illegal reentry after removal carries a higher federal prison term based on a prior AF conviction, per 8 USC 1326(a), (b)(2).

3 See Note: Aggravated Felony and individual offenses in the CHART . Crime of Violence (COV). A conviction of a COV has two potential Immigration penalties. If committed against a person protected under the state s domestic violence laws, a COV is a deportable Crime of Domestic Violence. See paragraph below on the domestic violence deportation ground, 8 USC 1227(a)(2)(E). If a sentence of a year or more is imposed, a COV is an aggravated felony, regardless of the type of victim. 8 USC 1101(a)(43)(F). COV is defined at 18 USC 16. Recent Supreme Court precedent has changed the legal landscape for that definition, so that some felonies that used to be COVs no longer are.

4 See individual offenses, and see discussion at endnote 2, here. 2 Crime Involving Moral Turpitude (CIMT). Whether an offense involves moral turpitude is defined according to federal Immigration case law, not state cases. CIMT is notoriously vaguely defined and subject to much litigation . It includes crimes with elements of intent to defraud, intent to cause great bodily injury, and theft with intent to deprive permanently. In also includes some offenses involving lewdness, recklessness, or malice. See individual offenses. A noncitizen is deportable who (a) is convicted of at least two CIMT s that did not arise out of the same incident, at any time after being admitted to the , or (b) is convicted of one CIMT, committed within five years of admission to the (or if there was no admission, within five years of adjustment to LPR status), if the offense carries a potential sentence of at least one year.

5 8 USC 1227(a)(2)(A). Because Cal PC (effective Jan. 1, 2015) provides that the maximum possible sentence for a misdemeanor is 364 days, any plea to a single misdemeanor CIMT entered after January 1, 2015 should not trigger the deportation ground. When reducing a single CIMT felony to a misdemeanor after January 1, 2015 for a noncitizen defendant, ask the judge to sign an order noting that the misdemeanor has potential 364 days; see paragraph on below. Immigrant Legal Resource Center, california CHART 2016 AF = Aggravated Felony CS = Controlled Substance COV = Crime of Violence DV = Domestic Violence CIMT = Crime Involving Moral Turpitude ROC = Record of Conviction 2A noncitizen is inadmissible if convicted of one CIMT, unless an exception applies.

6 To qualify for the petty offense exception, the person must have committed only one CIMT, which carries a potential sentence of not more than a year, and a sentence of not more than six months must have been imposed. To qualify for the youthful offender exception, the person must have committed only one CIMT, while under age 18, and the conviction (in adult criminal court) or release from imprisonment occurred at least five years ago. 8 USC 1182(a)(2)(A)(ii). For more information on CIMTs see n. 3, Controlled Substance Offense (CS). A noncitizen is deportable and inadmissible if convicted of an offense relating to a federally defined controlled substance.

7 There is an exception to the deportation ground, and a possible waiver of inadmissibility, if the conviction/s relate to a single incident involving simple possession, use, or possession of paraphernalia relating to 30 grams or less of marijuana or hashish. See discussion at H&S C 11377, and see 8 USC 1227(a)(2)(B)(i) (deportability), 8 USC 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(II) (inadmissibility), (h) (waiver). Controlled substance is defined according to federal law, and some offenses such as 11377-79 include substances not on the federal list. Due to this disparity, if the specific california substance is not identified on the record, the defendant may have an Immigration defense.

8 See Advice for 11377. A drug trafficking aggravated felony, defined at 8 USC 1101(a)(43)(B), includes trafficking offenses such as sale or possession for sale, as well as state offenses that may not involve trafficking but that are analogues to federal drug felonies. However, in Immigration proceedings in the Ninth Circuit only, offering to commit these offenses is not an aggravated felony. See Advice to 11379. Even if there is no conviction, a noncitizen is inadmissible if ICE has reason to believe he or she has trafficked (8 USC 1182(a)(C)), and can be deportable and inadmissible for being a drug addict or abuser (8 USC 1182(a)(1), 1227(a)(2)(B)(ii).)

9 See Note: Controlled Substances and individual offenses. Conviction of a Crime of Domestic Violence, of Child Abuse, Neglect or Abandonment, or of Stalking; Civil or Criminal Court Finding of Violation of a DV Stay-Away Order or Similar Order. These all trigger deportability under the domestic violence ground at 8 USC 1227(a)(2)(E). The conviction, or the conduct that violated the protective order, must have occurred after admission and after Sept. 30, 1996. A crime of domestic violence is a crime of violence (see above) against a person protected from the defendant s acts under state domestic violence laws.

10 A court finding of a violation of a portion of a DV protective order that is meant to protect against threats or repeated harassment causes deportability; this includes even the most minimal violation of a stay-away order. See Note: Domestic Violence and individual offenses. Firearms Offenses. A noncitizen is deportable under 8 USC 1227(a)(2)(C) who at any time after admission is convicted of an offense relating to a firearm. Also, convictions for sale of firearms, or certain offenses such as being a felon in possession, are aggravated felonies. 8 USC 1101(a)(43)(C).