Safe Havens

 

There are 51 different conviction- or conduct-based grounds of deportation.  The statutory basis of each is given in Appendix A, infra, the Deportation Grounds Checklist.  Once it has been established that the proposed disposition does not constitute an aggravated felony or crime of moral turpitude, the most thorough way to make sure it does not trigger another deportation ground is to go down the checklist given in Appendix A ground by ground.

 

            To assist counsel to do so more quickly, the following screening questions are suggested:

 

            1.  Is the victim of the offense a child, spouse, cohabitant, or equivalent? 

 

            If so, check the Family Violence conviction ground of deportation.  See § 7.147, infra; Appendix A [6].

 

            2.  Does the offense involve firearms or explosives? 

 

            If so, check the firearms and destructive device conviction ground of deportation.  See § 7.167, infra; Appendix A [9].

 

            3.  Does the offense involve violating any law regulating border crossing of goods, information, or people? 

 

            If so, see Appendix A [8] (export violations regarding goods or information), [10] (border crossing), [17] (high speed flight from immigration checkpoint), [18] (alien smuggling conduct), [19] (importation of person for immoral purposes).

 

            4.  Does the offense relate to a federally listed controlled substance? 

 

            If so, check the deportation ground covering convictions of offenses relating to a controlled substance.  See § 7.138, infra; Appendix A [5].  See also drug addict/drug abuser conduct deportation ground.  See § 7.137, infra; Appendix A [4].

 

            5.  Does the offense relate to false claims or other violations of immigration laws? 

            If so, see § 7.180, infra; Appendix A [11] (failure to file change of address conduct); [12] (false claim to U.S. citizenship conduct); [13] (fraud — document fraud administrative finding); [14] (fraud — marriage fraud conduct); [15] (fraud — registration document fraud conviction); [16] (fraud — visa fraud conviction); [18] (public charge conduct); [21] (unlawful voting conduct).

 

            6.  Does the offense relate to immigration status violations?

 

            If so, see § § 7.193-7.200, infra; and the following sections of Appendix A:

 

[22]  Conditional permanent residence termination conduct.

[23]  Health entry conditions violation conduct.

[24]  Inadmissibility at adjustment of status conduct.

[25]  Inadmissibility at entry conduct.

[26]  Nonimmigrant status violation conduct.

[27]  Present in the United States in violation of law conduct.

[28]  Visa revocation conduct.

 

            7.  Does the offense relate to security issues? 

 

            If so, see § § 7.201-7.224, infra, and the following sections of Appendix A:

 

[29]  Enemy citizens during wartime conduct.

[30]  Espionage conduct.

[31]  Espionage conviction.

[32]  Extrajudicial killing conduct.

[33]  Foreign Agent Registration Act conviction.

[34]  Foreign espionage trainee registration conviction. 

[35]  Foreign policy conduct.

[36]  Genocide conduct

[37]  National security violation conduct.

[38]  Nazi persecutors conduct.

[39]  Neutrality law conviction.

[40]  Overthrow of the government conduct.

[41]  Public safety conduct.

[42]  Religious freedom violation conduct.

[43]  Sabotage conduct.

[44]  Sabotage conviction.

[45]  Selective Service conviction.

[46]  Terrorist conduct.

[47]  Terrorist training recipient conduct.

[48]  Threats against the President and successors conviction.

[49]  Torture conduct.

[50]  Trading with the enemy conviction.

[51]  Treason or sedition conviction.