Safe Havens

This book is devoted to assisting noncitizens charged with one or more criminal offenses in identifying and obtaining a disposition that will not trigger deportation, or at least will give him or her a respectable argument to be made in immigration or federal court that the conviction does not trigger deportation.

            This chapter discusses the process of looking for and finding a safe haven disposition for the criminal case that will not trigger deportation.

            Immigration Consequences Charts.  As a quick reference, an increasing number of charts are available for different jurisdictions, that offer an opinion on the immigration consequences of convictions of violation of specific code sections defining criminal offenses.  The following links lead to charts that analyze the adverse immigration consequences of criminal convictions in each jurisdiction. Every chart lists the name of the offense, the relevant statute, then the category of crimes that the offense may or may not fall under (crimes of moral turpitude, aggravated felonies, and others) and some charts even offer advice regarding possible alternative pleas or defense strategies.

            As a convenience, links to all of the following charts are made available at http://www.CriminalAndImmigrationLaw.com, under “Free Resources” – “Immigration Consequences Charts – Federal and Selected State Crimes.”

            These charts are not a complete analysis; they are intended to be used for quick reference. Individual cases require the detailed analysis that only competent counsel can provide.  Moreover, these charts are stronger on identifying offenses that do trigger deportation, and relatively fewer safe havens are identified in them.

            Federal - by Dan Kesselbrenner and Sandy Lin, National Immigration Project, Defending Immigrants Partnership

            District of Columbia - The Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia has posted an online chart giving immigration consequences of a long list of District of Columbia and federal offenses.

            California - by Katherine Brady, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Defending Immigrants Partnership

            Florida - from the Defending Immigrants Partnership, see also the Basic Immigration Consequences of Select Florida Crimes created by the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center

            Illinois - by Dan Kesselbrenner, National Immigration Project, Defending Immigrants Partnership

            New Jersey - by Joanne Gottesman, Rutgers School of Law - Camden, Defending Immigrants Partnership

            New York - by Manny Vargas, New York State Defenders Association, Defending Immigrants Partnership

            Washington - by Ann Benson, Directing Attorney with Joseph Justin Rollin and Mick Woynarowski of the Washington Defenders Immigration Project. See also the related book, “Immigration Consequences of Criminal Conduct” (2001), and the Full Analysis of The Offenses Under the Revised Code Of Washington.

            It is wise to double check any potential safe haven against the information contained in the appropriate chart.