(D)  Criminal/Immigration Concepts:  The following terms are commonly used in describing the various crime-related grounds of removal and the analysis applied to determine removability:

 

Admission:  Where a noncitizen admits committing a crime, this admission may trigger certain grounds of removal.[43]

Aggravated Felony:  Any criminal conviction that falls within one of the categories of crimes listed at INA § 101(a)(43).[44]

Categorical Analysis:  The means of determining whether a given criminal conviction falls within one of the crime-based grounds of removal.[45]  This analysis may differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, i.e., from circuit to circuit.

Conduct-Based Grounds:  A ground of removal that does not require a criminal conviction.

Conviction:  A criminal disposition that meets all the requirements of INA § 101(a)(48).[46]  This definition is broader than that generally used in criminal law, and may include expunged convictions, deferred adjudications, and the like, that are not regarded as convictions under state law.

Conviction-Based Grounds: A ground of removal that requires a criminal conviction.

Crime of Moral Turpitude:  A category including crimes (including theft and fraud) that involve some sort of “evil intent” or are contrary to contemporary social mores.[47]

Divisible Statute Analysis:  An aspect of categorical analysis that becomes relevant when the statute of conviction may be divided into separate sets of criminal elements, and it is necessary to determine which offense, within the statute of conviction, was the defense of which the defendant was convicted.[48]

Good Moral Character:  A state in which one has not committed any acts[49] [within specified periods] that would evidence a lack of Good Moral Character.[50]

Reason to Believe: Certain grounds of removal may be triggered where the immigration authorities simply have “reason to believe” that the noncitizen has committed a crime, even if there is no conviction.[51]

Record of Conviction:  The documents in the criminal record that may be used in divisible statute analysis to determine the set of elements (i.e., the offense) of which the noncitizen was convicted.[52]

[43] See § 18.8, infra.

[44] INA § 101(a)(43), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43).  See Chapter 19, infra.

[45] See § § 16.3 - 16.8, infra.

[46] INA § 101(a)(48), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48).  See § 7.11, supra.

[47] See Chapter 26, infra.

[48] See § § 16.9 - 16.14, infra.

[49] INA § 101(f), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(f).

[50] See § 15.6, infra.

[51] See § 18.20, infra.

[52] See § § 16.15 - 16.33, infra.

Ninth Circuit

REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS " TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION " MARIANA ISLANDS
Mtoched v. Lynch, ___ F.3d ___, 2015 WL 2445063 (9th Cir. May 22, 2015) (United States immigration laws may be applied and enforced within CNMI to noncitizens who entered that territory, committed the crime, and suffered the conviction upon which the removal order is based prior to the extension of United States immigration laws to the Commonwealth).

Other

OVERVIEW - IMMIGRATION PROCEEDINGS - VISA WAIVER PROGRAM
DHS Final Rule: Designation of Malta for the Visa Waiver Program "This rule adds Malta to the list of countries authorized to participate in the Visa Waiver Program. DATES: This final rule is effective on December 30, 2008." Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 250 / Tuesday, December 30, 2008.