For US immigrants, criminal convictions may result in serious, lasting consequences. While many criminal records can disqualify a person from seeking a green card or a work visa, immigrants living in the country and found guilty of a crime may risk expulsion and be banned from returning for years.
It is essential that your rights be protected if you or a loved one is facing a criminal charge due to these awful possible consequences. An accomplished Yukon criminal defense attorney Fassio Law, can be useful.
Immigration consequences of criminal convictions
Immigration enforcement officials have the power to order the removal of some persons even if they do not have the right to a trial before an immigration court. However, the majority of immigrants are entitled to a court appearance before an immigration judge. The type of offense for which an immigrant has been convicted determines whether they have a right to a trial before an immigration court.
Each of these crime types has associated immigration consequences. These criminal types include:
- Crimes against children
- Controlled substance children
- Firearms offense
- Aggravated felonies
- Prostitution and commercialized vice
- Crimes involving moral turpitude
When an immigration judge makes a decision in a case involving an immigrant, the judge can choose to prevent the person charged with a crime from being expelled. Different crimes have distinct effects, with some having more severe consequences than others.
Immigration Impacts of Repeat Convictions or Lengthy Prison Terms
While various offenses have different impacts on immigration, repeat offenders may be subjected to even greater limitations. A convicted immigrant may be prohibited from becoming a US citizen for no more than five years if convicted of two or more crimes that carry a maximum 5-year prison term.
What Can Happen After a Conviction for an Aggravated Felony?
If accused of an aggravated crime, an immigrant may experience one or more of the subsequent immigration repercussions:
- An imprisoned immigrant cannot enter the US without getting a pardon or parole.
- Without the Attorney General’s explicit approval, removal proceedings for the guilty immigrant cannot be revoked.
- In the US, a guilty immigrant is ineligible for asylum. Depending on what happened in the immigrant’s place of origin, there is a waiver to this rule.
- The convicted immigrant is ineligible to apply for US citizenship.
Any immigrant found guilty of an aggravated crime may also be subject to further immigration consequences, such as serving a jail term according to the offense they committed. The immigrant may be subject to intensified removal after finishing the prison term for the offense, which might result in deportation right away when they get out of jail.
