Updates to criminal defense

EFFECTS OF REMOVAL

The Deported: Immigrants Uprooted from the Country They Call Home
https://features.hrw.org/features/the_deported/index.html
Human Rights Watch report on immigration arrests and deportations in 2017, details of the human impact of removal on undocumented immigrants, their families, and their communities. The report draws on 43 interviews with long-term immigrants deported since 2016.

REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS " VISA WAIVER PROGRAM

Nardea v. Sessions, 876 F.3d 675 (4th Cir. Nov. 29, 2017) (although DHS failed to produce evidence that noncitizen signed the I-94W form agreeing to waive rights under the Visa Waiver Program, the documents produced were sufficient to establish that noncitizen had waived his right to a fair hearing when threatened with deportation).

REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS " VISA WAIVER PROGRAM

Nardea v. Sessions, 876 F.3d 675 (4th Cir. Nov. 29, 2017) (although DHS failed to produce evidence that noncitizen signed the I-94W form agreeing to waive rights under the Visa Waiver Program, the documents produced were sufficient to establish that noncitizen had waived his right to a fair hearing when threatened with deportation).

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE " VIOLATION OF PROTECTIVE ORDER " SIMILAR TO CIRCUMSTANCE SPECIFIC ANALYSIS

Matter of Obshatko, 27 I&N Dec. 173 (BIA 2017) (in considering whether a violation of a domestic violence protection order renders a noncitizen deportable, under INA 237(a)(2)(E)(ii), an IJ should consider the probative and reliable evidence regarding what a state court has determined about the violation), clarifying Matter of Strydom, 25 I&N Dec. 507 (BIA 2011).

NOTE: While the court stated that neither the categorical, nor the circumstance-specific approaches were applicable to this ground, the board stated that any reliable evidence could be submitted.

DETENTION " CRIMINAL DETENTION " ICE DETAINER NOT SUFFICIENT ALONE TO JUSTIFY CRIMINAL COURT DENIAL OF PRETRIAL RELEASE

United States v. Ailon-Ailon, 875 F.3d 1334 (10th Cir. Nov. 22, 2017) (defendant facing federal prosecution for illegal reentry, and also subject to an ICE detainer, could not be denied pretrial release solely due to the risk that ICE would remove him before his criminal trial).

REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS " IMMIGRATION JUDGE " LACK OF AUTHORITY TO TERMINATE REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS TO ALLOW ARRIVING ALIEN TO PRESENT AFFIRMATIVE ASYLUM CLAIM

Matter of Matter of J-A-B- & I-J-V-A-, 27 I&N Dec. 168 (BIA 2017) (Immigration Judge lacks authority to terminate removal proceedings to give an arriving alien an opportunity to present an affirmative asylum claim to DHS).

CATEGORICAL ANALYSIS " DIVISIBILITY " CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES

United States v Martinez-Lopez, 864 F.3d 1034 (9th Cir 2017) (en banc) (several California controlled substances statutes, including Health and Safety Code 11352 and 11379, are divisible as to both the controlled substance and the different types of conduct, which means that an immigration authority can review the persons record of conviction to see which substance and conduct was the basis for the conviction).

NOTE: The majority found the substance involved an element rather than a means because a person arrested for simultaneous possession of two substances would be charged with two cri

DETENTION " IMMIGRATION DETENTION " SETTING IMMIGRATION BOND REQUIRES CONSIDERATION OF ABILITY TO PAY

Hernandez v. Sessions, 872 F.3d 976 (9th Cir. Oct. 2, 2017) (immigration officials must consider the financial ability of a foreign national to obtain a bond and alternative conditions of release).

PRATICE ADVISORY " CONVICTION " PLEA OF NO CONTEST CREATES CONVICTION FOR IMMIGRATION PURPOSES, EVEN THOUGH THERE IS NO EXPRESS ADMISSION OF GUILT

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.

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