Criminal Defense of Immigrants

The INA provides that a noncitizen becomes deportable if s/he has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, committed within five years after the immigrant’s admission into the United States, for which the law provides a maximum sentence to penal confinement of one year or more.[222] 

[222]  INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(i).  This is the current definition of this ground.  The previous definition required a sentence imposed of one year or more before the CMT conviction would trigger deportation.  See § 20.36, infra.  The current provision of this deportation statute generally applies to removal proceedings initiated on or after April 24, 1996.