The firearms ground of deportation[48] has the following elements:

 

(1)       conviction

(2)       after admission

(3)       of attempting to commit, conspiring to commit, or of committing

(4)       a qualifying offense,

(5)       involving a weapon which “is” a firearm or destructive device, as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 921(a).

 

This ground was added in 1988, effective November 18, 1988.[49]  It has been amended several times since then.[50]

[48] INA § 237(a)(2)(C), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(C). 

[49] Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, Pub.L. No. 100-690, § 7348(a), 102 Stat. 4181.

[50] INA § 237(a)(2)(C), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(C), as amended by the Immigration Act of 1990, Pub. L. No. 101-649, § 602, 104 Stat. 4978, 5077, as further amended by the Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994, Pub. L. No. 103-416, § 203(b)(1), 108 Stat. 4305, 4311, as redesignated by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRAIRA) (enacted as Division C of Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 1997, Pub. L. No. 104-208, § 305(a)(2), 110 Stat. 3009, 3009-597).  The 1994 amendment added the words “attempting or conspiring.”

Second Circuit

FIREARMS - MENACING NATURE OF CONVICTION - DIVISIBLE STATUTE ANALYSIS - MODIFIED CATEGORICAL ANALYSIS
Lanferman v. BIA, 576 F.3d 84 (2d Cir. Aug. 5, 2009) (New York conviction of menacing in the second degree, in violation of New York Penal Law 120.14, may be a divisible statute, under the modified categorical analysis, for purposes of deportability under INA 237(a)(2)(C), 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(C), so case is remanded for that determination by the BIA in the first instance); accord, James v. Mukasey, 522 F.3d 250 (2d Cir. 2008).