Criminal Defense of Immigrants

(A)  In General.  Criminal defense counsel frequently needs to ascertain whether a given disposition in a criminal case constitutes a safe haven.  This inquiry arises in two contexts:

                (1) before conviction, when defense counsel is seeking to identify a safe haven disposition to offer or press for, in order to protect a noncitizen client against becoming deportable on account of a criminal conviction, see § 1.16, infra; and

                (2) after conviction, when defense counsel is looking at the immigration consequences of a prior conviction to see whether it triggers deportation, so as to know whether it is necessary to seek post-conviction relief from that conviction in order to protect the client against deportation.  See § 1.17, infra.