Aggravated Felonies

            Convictions in courts-martial within the United States Armed Forces are not specifically listed as constituting aggravated felonies, unless these convictions are considered to fall within the category of violations of federal law.  They are certainly not commonly thought of as federal criminal convictions.  If the statute is considered ambiguous on this point, the rule of lenity should tilt the balance away from imposing the drastic consequence of deportation as the result of an ambiguous statute.[198]

            On the other hand, some authorities appear to assume, without analysis of the statute defining conviction, that a court martial finding of guilt of an offense under military law constitutes a conviction for immigration purposes.[199]  This conclusion, however, could be challenged in immigration court and by petition for review.

[198] See Leocal v. Ashcroft, 543 U.S. 1, 125 S.Ct. 377 (2004).

[199] Belliss, Consequences Of A Court-Martial Conviction For United States Service Members Who Are Not United States Citizens, 51 Naval L. Rev. 53, 56-57 (2005) (footnote omitted) (“While the U.S. military justice system does not provide for deferred adjudications or pleas of nolo contendre, the imposition of a sentence at a special or general court-martial upon an LPR service member will be enough to meet the statutory definition of a conviction under the United States’s immigration laws.”).