Criminal Defense of Immigrants

A number of the aggravated felony definitions are of the form, “an offense described in section 1956 of title 18, United States Code (relating to laundering of monetary instruments) . . . .”[17]  In assessing whether the immigration authorities will consider a specific offense to fall within an aggravated felony definition, the words of the statute are a prime consideration.  The use of parentheticals and the “related to” language raise the questions of whether Congress meant to restrict the aggravated felony definition to the specific offenses listed in the parentheticals, and how broadly or narrowly the courts should read the “related to” phrase.  These issues are discussed in § § 16.36-16.37, supra. 

[17] INA § 101(a)(43)(D), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(D).