Criminal Defense of Immigrants

(A)  Topics Covered.  This chapter will focus on the existence of a conviction under immigration law: what constitutes a conviction, and what does not.  At the beginning, it will describe the immigration significance of a conviction.  See § § 7.3, et seq., infra.  In the wake of the 1996 immigration legislation, a statute now defines the elements of a conviction for immigration purposes. See § 7.11, infra.[1]  Next, this chapter will identify the many non-conviction dispositions of criminal cases that do not qualify as convictions under immigration law.  See § § 7.21, et seq., infra   Finally, it will describe effective post-conviction relief from a conviction: criminal court orders that eliminate one or more elements of a conviction so as to remove the adverse immigration effects of a conviction.  See § 7.38, infra.

[1] INA § 101(a)(48)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48)(A).