Safe Havens
§ 8.56 (B)
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(B) Crimes of Moral Turpitude.[189]
Alien smuggling for gain, where willfulness and knowledge are elements, has been held to be a CMT. However, a conviction for transporting undocumented immigrants does not involve moral turpitude because it does not involve “fraud or an evil intent.”
Board of Immigration Appeals:
Matter of Tiwari, 19 I. & N. Dec. 875 (BIA 1989) (conviction of a regulatory offense under INA § 274(a), 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a), of bringing in and transporting noncitizens, without a showing of “gain,” is not a crime of moral turpitude under INA § 241(a)(4)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1231(a)(4)(A) as fraud is not an essential element of § 274(a) and the amended version of § 274(a) resembles a strict liability statute, not requiring a showing of “fraud or an evil intent”).
District Courts:
United States v. Sucki, 748 F. Supp. 66 (E.D.N.Y. 1990) (transportation of illegal aliens not a CMT).
[189] See N. Tooby, J. Rollin & J. Foster, Crimes of Moral Turpitude § 9.77 (2005).
