Criminal Defense of Immigrants

(A)  In General.  The Domestic Violence ground of deportation has two parts:

                (1)  First, certain convictions of crimes of domestic violence, stalking, or child abuse trigger deportation.  See § 22.10, infra.  No particular sentence is required, so if the crime fits within the deportation ground, it triggers removal even if no sentence to custody at all has been imposed.  It covers misdemeanors, as well as felonies. 

                (2)  The second part of the domestic violence ground of deportation is triggered by any court finding that a noncitizen violated the portion of a domestic violence protection order that protects a person against family violence, even if there is no criminal conviction. Any qualifying court finding will do, for example, a court finding of a criminal court that the defendant violated a probation condition protecting against family violence, or a family court DV TRO, or a civil court order, or perhaps even a qualifying juvenile court order.  See § 22.33, infra.  Counsel should therefore take care, in a criminal case involving domestic violence charges, to avoid a probation violation finding that might trigger deportation under this ground.