Safe Havens

Twenty-three of the 51 different grounds of deportation are triggered by a specified criminal conviction.[15]  If there is no conviction, as defined under immigration law,[16] these deportation grounds cannot be established and a noncitizen cannot be removed under any of these conviction-based grounds of deportation.  For a checklist and discussion of the various dispositions in criminal cases that do not constitute convictions for purposes of deportation, see § 2.4, supra, and Chapter 4, infra.

[15] These conviction-based grounds of deportation are also defined in Appendix A, [1], [3]-[6], [9], [10], [15]-[17], [20], [31], [33], [34], [39], [44], [45], [48], [50], [51], infra.

[16] INA § 101(a)(48)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48)(A).