Crimes of Moral Turpitude

A person who has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude and deported is inadmissible for five years.[218]  A waiver is available in the Attorney General’s discretion if an application for readmission is granted.[219]

            Illegal reentry after deportation is not itself a CMT.[220]  However, a person who commits or is convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, is then deported or removed, and then returns to the United States without permission is guilty of a federal criminal offense and can be sentenced to a maximum of 2, 10, or 20 years in federal prison, depending upon the criminal history prior to the initial deportation or removal.[221]

[218] INA § 212(a)(9)(A)(i).

[219] INA § 212(a)(9)(A)(ii) (ground of inadmissibility), (iii) (waiver). 

[220] See § 9.78, infra.

[221] See INA § 276(b), 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b).