Crimes of Moral Turpitude

Mandatory detention is imprisonment by ICE without possibility of bond.  Immigration detention is analogous to criminal detention.  The person detained may post cash or bond in the amount set by the agency or the court and obtain release just as with a criminal bond, unless the noncitizen is subject to mandatory detention.  Generally, the only noncitizens convicted of CMTs that are not subject to mandatory detention are those subject to deportation, whose CMT convictions were not committed within five years of admission, or for which a sentence of less than one year was imposed, or those who were released from actual criminal custody (i.e., jail or prison) after October 9, 1998.  A noncitizen may be able to work with criminal defense and immigration counsel to avoid a conviction that would trigger mandatory detention.  Criminal lawyers should attempt in criminal court to obtain criminal dispositions that do not trigger mandatory detention, while immigration counsel can argue in immigration court that a given disposition does not do so.