There are two different grounds of deportation based on convictions for crimes of moral turpitude. 

 

(1)  One CMT Conviction Ground.  The INA provides that a noncitizen becomes deportable if s/he has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, committed within five years after the immigrant’s admission into the United States, for which the law provides a maximum sentence to penal confinement of one year or more.[930] 

 

This deportation ground requires the following five elements: 

 

(a)   a conviction of

(b)   a criminal offense,

(c)   involving moral turpitude,

(d)   committed within five years of the noncitizen’s last admission into the United States, or 10 years if the noncitizen was admitted with an “S” visa,[931]

(e)   for which the maximum possible sentence was one year or more in custody.[932] 

This final sentence requirement applies in all removal proceedings initiated on or after April 24, 1996.  A sentence imposed of one year or more was required in proceedings begun before that date.[933]

 

            (2)  Two CMT Conviction Ground.  A noncitizen is deportable “who at any time after admission is convicted of two or more crimes involving moral turpitude, not arising out of a single scheme of criminal misconduct, regardless of whether confined therefor and regardless of whether the convictions were in a single trial . . . .” [934]  Thus, if two CMT convictions have been suffered, the timing of the convictions and the severity of the sentence become irrelevant: the noncitizen is deportable regardless.

 

This deportation ground requires the following five elements: 

 

(a)        two convictions

(b)        after admission

(c)        of a crime

(d)        of moral turpitude

(e)        not arising as part of a single scheme of criminal misconduct.

Conviction of two crimes involving moral turpitude — committed at any time after admission and regardless of sentence — is a basis for deportation unless the offenses arose as part of a “single scheme of criminal misconduct.” [935]  There is no time requirement, and all CMTs trigger this result, regardless of the potential or imposed sentence.[936]

[930]  INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(i); see D. Kesselbrenner & L. Rosenberg, Immigration Law & Crimes, Chapter 6; K. BRADY, California Criminal Law And Immigration, Chapter 4 (2004).  This is the current definition of this ground.  The previous definition required a sentence imposed of one year or more before the CMT conviction would trigger deportation.  This provision of this deportation statute generally applies to removal proceedings initiated on or after April 24, 1996.  See C. Gordon, S. Mailman, & S. Yale-Loehr, Immigration Law and Procedure § § 71.01[2][a], [b] (2004).

[931] If the noncitizen was admitted into the United States by virtue of an “S” visa, granted for cooperation with law enforcement or prosecuting authorities in the investigation or prosecution of crime, under INA § 245(j), 8 U.S.C. § 1255(j), then the person is deportable if the offense was committed within 10 years of admission, instead of within five years.  INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(i)(I), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(i)(I).

[932] This is the current definition of this ground.  For deportation proceedings initiated prior to April 1, 1997, the person is not deportable unless s/he was actually sentenced to serve one year or more in custody as a result of the conviction.

[933] See N. Tooby, J. Rollin & J. Foster, Crimes of Moral Turpitude  § § 5.8-5.10 (2005).

[934] INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(ii), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(ii). The multiple-CMT ground of deportation was amended by AEDPA to read as follows:

(ii) Multiple criminal convictions. -- Any alien who at any time after admission is convicted of two or more crimes involving moral turpitude, not arising out of a single scheme of criminal misconduct, regardless of whether confined therefor and regardless of whether the convictions were in a single trial, is deportable.

The prior version read the same, except it provided the conviction must occur after “entry.”  Former INA § 241(a)(2)(A)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(2)(A)(i), prior to amendment by AEDPA.

[935] INA § 237(a)(2)(ii), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(ii).

[936] In 1952, the INA revised the multiple-CMT deportation ground to eliminate the prior requirement that each conviction result in a sentence of one year or more.  S. Rep. No. 82-1137, at 21 (1952); H.R. Rep. No. 82-1365, at 60 (1952), reprinted in 1952 U.S.C.C.A.N. 1653.  The statute now provides that a noncitizen will be deported for two convictions at any time after admission, of crimes involving moral turpitude, regardless of what sentence is imposed.  Matter of P, 8 I. & N. Dec. 424 (BIA 1959); Matter of O, 7 I. & N. Dec. 539 (BIA 1957). 

Ninth Circuit

CRIME OF MORAL TURPITUDE - ACCESSORY AFTER THE FACT
Navarro-Lopez v. Gonzales, __ F.3d __, 2007 WL 2713211 (9th Cir. Sept. 19, 2007) (California conviction for accessory after the fact, in violation of Penal Code 32, is not a crime of moral turpitude as the minimum conduct required to violate the statute includes acts that are not necessarily "morally shocking," such a mother providing food to her son, or being accessory after the fact to an offense that is not itself an crime of moral turpitude).