Safe Havens

 

It is important to examine the checklist of general safe havens, that apply to many conviction-based grounds of deportation, to determine whether the offense or conviction being examined falls within one or more of them:

 

            (1)       Persons whose citizenship status or nationality renders them immune

                        from the grounds of deportation.

 

                        (a)  United States Citizens, see § 4.5, supra;

 

                        (b)  Nationals of the United States, see § 4.6, supra;

 

                        (c)  American Indians born in Canada, see § 4.7, supra.

 

(2)       Dispositions that are not considered convictions of a crime.  See § 4.9, supra.

 

                        (a)  Juvenile delinquency dispositions, see § 4.10, supra;

 

                        (b)  Dispositions under a procedure that is not considered criminal

                        procedure, so the disposition is not considered a conviction of a

                        crime, see § 4.11, supra;

 

                        (c)  Certain foreign convictions for conduct that is not considered

                        criminal under United States law, see § 4.12, supra.

 

            (3)       Dispositions of criminal cases that do not constitute convictions,

                        under the immigration-law definition of “conviction.”  See § 4.13,

                        supra.

                        (a)  Acquittal, see § 4.15, supra;

 

                        (b)  Dismissal before conviction, see § 4.16, supra;

                        (c)  Deferred prosecution, see § 4.17, supra;

 

                        (d)  Deferred verdict, see § 4.18, supra;

 

                        (e)  Deferred sentence, see § 4.19, supra.

 

            (4)       Convictions in criminal cases that are not considered sufficiently

                        final to permit the initiation of deportation proceedings, because an

                        appeal is pending or they are still subject to appeal, see § 4.21,                                  supra.

 

            (5)       Convictions that have been effectively eliminated for immigration

                        purposes by some form of post-conviction relief, see § 4.24, supra.

 

                        (a)  Judicial Recommendations Against Deportation, see § 4.25,

                        supra;

 

                        (b)  Executive pardons, see § 4.26(C), supra;

 

                        (c)  State rehabilitative relief, see § 4.27, supra;

 

                        (d)  Convictions that have been vacated on a ground of legal

                        invalidity, see § 4.28, supra;

 

                        (e)  Sentences that have been modified, reduced, or eliminated by

                        post-conviction relief, see § 4.29, supra;

 

            (6)       Convictions that are defective on some ground that may be raised in

                        immigration court as a defense to removal, see § 4.30, supra.

 

                        (a)  Convictions by a court that lacks jurisdiction to render a

                        conviction, see § 4.31, supra;

 

                        (b)  Convictions (usually foreign convictions) that are rendered in

                        absentia without adequate notice to the defendant, see § 4.32, supra.

 

            (7)       Convictions that do not follow admission do not trigger any ground

                        of removal described in INA § 237(a), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a).  See §

                        4.33, supra.