Criminal Defense of Immigrants

(A)  In General.  Juvenile delinquency dispositions that occur in juvenile court are not considered to be criminal convictions, and thus do not trigger any conviction-based ground of deportation.[52]  Congress knows how to attach conviction consequences to adjudications of juvenile delinquency when it wishes to do so. For example, Congress recently provided, with respect to a specific new statute, that “The term `convicted’ or a variant thereof, used with respect to a sex offense, includes adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile for that offense, but only under limited conditions.[53]  Some youthful offender dispositions, however, are considered convictions.[54]  See § 12.21, infra.

[52] Matter of Devison, 22 I. & N. Dec. 1362 (BIA 2000); Matter of De La Nues, 18 I. & N. Dec. 140 (BIA 1981); Matter of Ramirez-Rivero, 18 I. & N. Dec. 135 (BIA 1981) (Cuban conviction); Matter of F, 4 I. & N. Dec. 726 (BIA 1952); Matter of A, 3 I. & N. Dec. 368 (BIA 1948); Matter of O’N, 2 I. & N. Dec. 319 (AG 1945). The BIA’s holdings in the earlier of these cases were adopted by the State Department in 52 Fed. Reg. 17,942 (May 13, 1987) (amending former 22 C.F.R § § 41.91(a)(9) and (10) and 42.91(a)(9) and (10)) (new rule inapplicable to a juvenile tried as an adult for a violent crime).

[53] The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, H.R. 4472, Pub. L. 109-248, § 111(8) (July 27, 2006).

[54] Uritsky v. Gonzales, 399 F.3d 728 (6th Cir. Mar. 7, 2005) (sentence of probation and a designation of “youthful trainee” under Michigan’s Holmes Youthful Trainee Act (“YTA”), Mich. Comp. Laws § § 762.11-16, constitutes a conviction for immigration purposes).