When we talk about crimes that trigger
immigration consequences, there's really two classes.
One is crimes that will cause you to be deported or removed
from the United States, and the other
is what we call inadmissible crimes.
An inadmissible crime will not necessarily get you deported,
but if you leave the United States it will prevent you
from being readmitted; it will prevent you
from adjusting your status; and it will prevent you
from naturalizing to the United States, or becoming a citizen.
Really, there are four categories
of inadmissible crimes.
The first are crimes involving moral turpitude.
The second is drug crimes, any sort of drug conviction
will make you inadmissible.
The third is multiple convictions
where the aggregate sentence is five years or more.
And the fourth is evidence that you engaged
in prostitution, drug trafficking,
or that you're a drug addict.
Keep in mind that with regard to prostitution, drug trafficking,
and drug addiction, you could be made inadmissible
even if there's no conviction, just based on evidence.
The upshot is if you are accused of a crime that
would make you inadmissible, you want
to get an attorney who understands not only
the criminal law, but understands immigration law as
well.
Often it's possible to resolve your case
where, we not only keep you out of jail
and get you a good result in court,
but that we avoid putting you in a situation where you will face
immigration consequences later.
Even if you've been convicted already
of an inadmissible crime, it's often possible
to get you some sort of post conviction relief
where we can negate the conviction
and make you admissible to the United States
and allow you, ultimately, to naturalize and become
a citizen.