Criminal Defense of Immigrants

The starting point in developing a strategy for minimizing adverse immigration consequences of a conviction is to determine exactly what final result in the criminal courts is necessary to achieve the client’s objectives.  This question is fundamentally a combined question of both immigration and criminal law: what are the immigration effects of the various possible outcomes in the criminal courts, which effects can the client live with, and what changes can be achieved through criminal defense work on the current case and through post‑conviction relief efforts on any prior convictions.[1]

                Close consultation is essential with someone experienced in the immigration consequences of criminal convictions.  See § § 3.33, et seq., infra.

[1] Concerning post-conviction relief, see Chapter 11, infra.