A plea of no contest, or nolo contendere, is when a defendant does not expressly admit his guilt, but nonetheless waives his right to a trial and authorizes the court for purposes of the case to treat him as if he were guilty. North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 35 (1970). A plea of no contest followed by any limitation on the clients freedom is a conviction for immigration purposes. INA 101(a)(48)(A), 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(48)(A).

The BIA initially addressed the issue in Matter of C (1953), see: https://casetext.com/case/in-the-matter-of-c-47. In its analysis the Board reasoned that "Technically, a plea of nolo contendere does not admit the allegations of the charge, but merely says that defendant does not choose to defend. The Board continued:

For instance, it is best not to enter a plea of guilty but rather to enter a plea of nolo contendere if a client is likely to be sued in a civil action or a civil action is pending as a result of his/her alleged criminal conduct. In such instances, it may be advisable that client enter a plea of no contest rather than a plea of guilty.

In others, the discovery or the States case may be very weak or the record of conviction is sloppy, or in other proceedings, such as probation revocation proceedings, it may be advisable not to enter a plea of guilty, but rather proceed with a plea of Nolo Contendere.

In United States v. Nguyen, 465 F.3d 1128 (9th Cir. Oct. 18, 2006), the court held:

[A] plea of nolo contendere ... is, first and foremost, not an admission of factual guilt. It merely allows the defendant so pleading to waive a trial and to authorize the court to treat him as if he were guilty. (Citation omitted.). Thus, some may argue that in the context of determining whether a noncitizen on supervised release from immigration detention had violated the term of the release requiring that he not commit any crimes, the Ninth Circuit has held that a plea of no contest in criminal proceedings is insufficient evidence to show that the noncitizen has committed a crime, since a nolo contendere plea is not an admission of guilt to the underlying crime. Applied in this context, counsel could argue that a no contest plea cannot be used to establish that a noncitizen has committed a crime, because even though there is a conviction, a no contest plea gives no proof that the offense of conviction was committed by the defendant. Granted, other evidence, however, could be used to prove the conduct.

Thanks to Ray Borloutchi.