Safe Havens
- §5.1 I. Introduction
- §5.2 II. Investigation
- §5.3 A. Interviewing the Client
- §5.4 1. Special Considerations
- §5.5 2. Non-English Speaking Clients
- §5.6 B. Immigration Status
- §5.7 1. Non-Deportable Nationality
- §5.8 C. Client’s Equities
- §5.9 D. Current Criminal Case
- §5.10 E. Verifying the Immigration Situation
- §5.11 1. Filing FOIA Requests
- §5.12 2. Information on Amnesty Clients
- §5.13 F. Verifying Exact Criminal History
- §5.14 1. FBI Criminal History Report
- §5.15 2. State Criminal History Records
- §5.16 3. Department of Motor Vehicle Conviction Records
- §5.17 G. Obtaining Records from the Rendering Court
- §5.18 III. Chronology
- §5.19 IV. Working with Cooperating Counsel
- §5.20 A. Immigration Counsel's Role
- §5.21 B. Criminal Defense Counsel's Role
- §5.22 C. Post-Conviction Counsel's Role
- §5.23 V. Government Burden of Proof of Deportability
- §5.24 A. Clear, Convincing and Unequivocal Evidence
- §5.25 B. Reasonable Doubts Favor the Noncitizen
- §5.26 VI. General Safe Havens
- §5.27 VII. Avoiding a Conviction
- §5.28 VIII. Obtaining a Non-Deportable Conviction
- §5.29 A. Examine the Range of Possibilities
- §5.30 1. Charged Offenses
- §5.31 2. Lesser-Included Offenses
- §5.32 3. Reasonably-Related Offenses
- §5.33 4. Unrelated Offenses
- §5.34 5. Factual Basis for Plea
- §5.35 B. Verify Conviction Does Not Trigger Deportation
- §5.36 1. Procedure
- §5.37 a. General Aggravated Felony Safe Havens
- §5.38 b. Specific Aggravated Felony Categories
- §5.39 c. General Moral Turpitude Safe Havens
- §5.40 d. Judicial Decisions Identifying Safe Havens
- §5.41 2. Other Conviction-Based Grounds of Deportation
- §5.42 a. Screening Questions
- §5.43 b. Examine Relevant Grounds
- §5.44 IX. Obtaining A Non-Deportable Sentence
- §5.45 A. Sentence Imposed
- §5.46 B. Maximum Possible Sentence for Offense
- §5.47 C. Level of Offense
- §5.48 1. Felony
- §5.49 2. Misdemeanor
- §5.50 3. Infraction
- §5.51 D. Restitution
- §5.52 X. Verify Conduct Does Not Trigger Deportation
- §5.53 XI. List Range of Possible Safe Havens
- §5.54 A. Statute of Conviction
- §5.55 B. Offense of Conviction
- §5.56 C. Minimum Elements of Offense of Conviction
- §5.57 D. Maximum Possible Sentence for Offense
- §5.58 E. Actual Sentence to be Imposed
- §5.59 1. Level of Offense
- §5.60 2. Length of Sentence
- §5.61 3. Restitution
- §5.62 F. Other Sentence Characteristics
- §5.63 1. Sentence Enhancements
- §5.64 2. Effect as Prior Conviction in Future
- §5.65 3. Other Sentence Elements
§ 5.33 4. Unrelated Offenses
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If no safe haven can be found in this range of offenses, it may be necessary to find a completely unrelated safe haven and try to sell the prosecution and court on it as a plea bargain, if deportation is to be avoided. This practice is not uncommon for relatively minor offenses. For example, in California, a plea to disturbing the peace is a common unrelated lesser offense to an original charge of soliciting an act of prostitution.
