This deportation ground requires the following five elements: 

 

(a)   a conviction of

(b)   a criminal offense,

(c)   involving moral turpitude,

(d)   committed within five years of the noncitizen’s last admission into the United States, or 10 years if the noncitizen was admitted with an “S” visa,[1003]

(e)   for which the maximum possible sentence was one year or more in custody.[1004] 

This final requirement applies in all removal proceedings initiated on or after April 24, 1996.  Different forms of this sentence requirement apply to proceedings begun before that date.[1005]

 

[1003] If the noncitizen was admitted into the United States by virtue of an “S” visa, granted for cooperation with law enforcement or prosecuting authorities in the investigation or prosecution of crime, under INA § 245(j), 8 U.S.C. § 1255(j), then the person is deportable if the offense was committed within 10 years of admission, instead of within five years.  INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(i)(I), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(i)(I).

[1004] This is the current definition of this ground.  For deportation proceedings initiated prior to April 1, 1997, the person is not deportable unless s/he was actually sentenced to serve one year or more in custody as a result of the conviction.

[1005] See N. Tooby, J. Rollin & J. Foster, Crimes of Moral Turpitude § § 5.8-5.10 (2005).

CRIMES OF MORAL TURPITUDE - SOLICITATION
Barragan-Lopez v. Mukasey, 508 F.3d 899 (9th Cir. Nov. 21, 2007) (Arizona conviction for solicitation to possess at least four pounds of marijuana for sale, in violation of Ariz. Rev. Stat. 13-1002(A) and (B)(2), 13-3405(A)(2) and (B)(6), constitutes a crime involving moral turpitude for the purposes of INA 237(a)(2)(A)(i), 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(A)(i), since this ground does not specifically list "attempt" and "conspiracy," and thus does not impliedly exclude "solicitation").

Note: The court applied a "target offense" style analysis. Under this analysis, solicitation to commit a non-CMT offense should not be considered a CMT. The case also holds that solicitation offenses are included in INA 237(a)(2)(A)(i), 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(A)(i), because that section does not mention "attempt and conspiracy" to the exclusion of other non-substantive offenses. This case would not apply to the CMT ground of inadmissibility, since INA 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I), 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I) does include the "attempt or conspiracy" language, and thus impliedly excludes solicitation offenses. The same holds true for any other ground of deportation or inadmissibility that lists attempt and conspiracy, but not solicitation, such as the controlled substances ground of inadmissibility, INA 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(II), 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(II), and the aggravated felony ground of deportation, INA 101(a)(43)(U), 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(U), inter alia.

Sixth Circuit

CRIMES OF MORAL TURPITUDE - DEPORTATION
Zhang v. Mukasey, 509 F.3d 313 (6th Cir. Nov. 29, 2007) (adjustment of status does not constitute an "admission" for purposes of starting the five-year period within which a CMT must be committed to trigger deportation under INA 237(a)(2)(A)(i), 8 U.S.C. 1227(a) (2)(A)(i)), agreeing with Shivaraman v. Ashcroft, 360 F.3d 1142, 1146 (9th Cir. 2004); Abdelqadar v. Gonzales, 413 F.3d 668, 673 (7th Cir. 2005); Aremu v. Dep't of Homeland Sec., 450 F.3d 578, 581 (4th Cir. 2006), vacating Matter of Shanu, 23 I. & N. Dec. 754 (BIA 2005), disagreeing with Matter of Shanu, 23 I. & N. Dec. 754 (BIA 2005), vacated by Aremu v. Dept. of Homeland Security, 450 F.3d 578 (4th Cir. 2006).

Other

CRIME OF MORAL TURPITUDE - DEPORTABILITY
DHS Urges BIA to Vacate Matter of Shanu http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?docid=31848 Agreeing with amicus Legal Action Center, DHS urges BIA to overturn Matter of Shanu, which holds that "any admission" qualifies under INA 237(a)(2)(A)(i) (deportation ground based upon a conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude within five years of admission). AILA Doc. No. 10042960.