Conviction-Based Grounds of Deportation

 

Twenty-four of the 52 different grounds of deportation are triggered by a specified criminal conviction.[1]  If there is no conviction, as defined under immigration law,[2] these deportation grounds cannot be established and a noncitizen cannot be removed under any of these conviction-based grounds of deportation.  For a checklist and discussion of the various dispositions in criminal cases that do not constitute convictions for purposes of deportation, see § 2.4, supra, and Chapter 4, infra.

The most common conviction-based grounds of deportation are the following:

• Aggravated felony convictions (some 35 different offenses and categories of offenses listed at INA § 101(a)(43).

• Controlled substances convictions.

• Firearms convictions.

• Convictions of crimes of moral turpitude.

• Domestic violence convictions.

There are many more individual offenses and smaller, rarer categories of offenses for which convictions trigger deportation.

 

 

 

Conviction-Based Grounds of Deportation

 

NOTE: The 20 conviction-based grounds of deportation are listed here organized into criminal, immigration, and security grounds and alphabetically within each category.  The balance of the total of 52 grounds of deportation are omitted from this list since they do not require a conviction to trigger them, but may be found in Safe Havens Appendix A, which contains the complete list of all 52 grounds of deportation.

 

Criminal Grounds

• Aggravated felony conviction. Appendix A, [1]

• Crime of moral turpitude – one conviction. Appendix A, [2]

• Crime of moral turpitude – multiple convictions. Appendix A, [3]

• Controlled substances conviction. Appendix A, [5]

• Domestic violence/stalking/child abuse convictions. Appendix A, [6]

  Firearms or destructive device conviction. Appendix A, [9]

Immigration Grounds

• Border crossing conviction. Appendix A, [10]

• Fraud – registration document fraud conviction. Appendix A, [15]

• Fraud – visa fraud conviction. Appendix A, [16]

• High speed flight from immigration checkpoint conviction. Appendix A, [17]

• Smuggling – importation for immoral purpose conviction. Appendix A, [20]

Security Grounds

• Espionage conviction. Appendix A, [31]

• Foreign Agent Registration Act conviction. Appendix A, [33]

• Foreign espionage trainee registration conviction. Appendix A, [34]

• Neutrality law conviction. Appendix A, [39]

• Sabotage conviction. Appendix A, [44]

• Selective Service conviction. Appendix A, [45]

• Threats against the President and successors conviction. Appendix A, [48]

• Trading with the enemy conviction. Appendix A, [50]

• Treason or sedition conviction. Appendix A, [51]

 

 

Conduct-Based Grounds of Deportation

 

Of the 52 different grounds of deportation listed in Appendix A, 26 of them are based on status or “conduct,” rather than upon a criminal conviction or other finding of a court or administrative tribunal.  (For simplicity, the grounds of deportation that are triggered by a change in a noncitizen’s immigration status are included as “conduct-based grounds of deportation,” to distinguish them from the grounds that are based on a criminal conviction or other finding of a court or administrative tribunal, since they are treated the same as other conduct-based grounds.)

 

These grounds of deportation are somewhat more difficult for the immigration authorities to establish in deportation proceedings, since they may be contested factually during a removal hearing by the calling of witnesses.  For example, the government may introduce evidence that a noncitizen engaged in certain conduct that falls within a conduct-based ground of deportation and contend the noncitizen is therefore deportable and must be removed from the United States.  The noncitizen has a due process right to defend him- or herself against this charge, and may introduce (a) testimony of 15 character witnesses that s/he has a character trait of truthfulness, (b) the noncitizen’s own testimony that s/he did not engage in the conduct alleged to constitute a ground of deportation, and (c) testimony of 15 eyewitnesses to the effect that s/he did not in fact engage in that conduct.  This ability to contest the facts in immigration court can make a removal hearing concerning a conduct-based deportation ground much more time-consuming and expensive than a removal hearing in which a certified record of conviction conclusively establishes a conviction-based ground of deportation.  When a vigorous defense blossoms into a contested hearing during which the testimony of a number of witnesses will be offered, it is not uncommon for the immigration authorities to abandon a conduct-based ground of deportation.

 

 

Checklist of Conduct-Based Grounds

 

The following grounds of deportation depend on the ability of the government to prove — as a factual matter — that the noncitizen engaged in certain specified conduct that falls within a conduct-based ground of deportation.  The first chart is organized into four categories: conduct-based criminal grounds of deportation, conduct-based immigration grounds of deportation, conduct-based immigration status violation grounds, and conduct-based security grounds of deportation.  The balance of the total of 52 grounds of deportation are omitted from this list since they require a conviction or court or administrative finding to trigger them, but may be found in Safe Havens Appendix A, which contains the complete list of grounds of deportation.

 

 

Criminal Grounds

• Controlled substances abuser or addict conduct.  [4]

• Domestic violence protection order violation court finding.   [7]

• Export violation conduct.  [8]

Immigration Grounds

• Failure to file change of address conduct. [11]

• False claim to U.S. citizenship conduct. [12]

• Fraud – document fraud administrative finding.   [13]

• Fraud – marriage fraud conduct.  [14]

• Public charge conduct. [18]

• Smuggling – alien smuggling conduct. [19]

• Unlawful voting conduct.  [21]

Immigration Status Violation Grounds

• Conditional permanent residence termination conduct. [22]

• Health entry conditions violation conduct. [23]

• Inadmissibility at adjustment of status conduct.  [24]

• Inadmissibility at entry conduct.  [25]

• Nonimmigrant status violation conduct.  [26]

• Present in the United States in violation of law conduct. [27]

• Visa revocation conduct. [28]

Security Grounds

• Enemy citizens during wartime conduct. [29]

• Espionage conduct. [30]

• Extrajudicial killing conduct. [32]

• Foreign policy conduct.  [35]

• Genocide conduct. [36]

• National security violation conduct.  [37]

• Nazi persecutors conduct.  [38]

• Overthrow of the government conduct.  [40]

• Public safety conduct. [41]

• Religious freedom violation conduct. [42]

• Sabotage conduct.  [43]

• Terrorist conduct.  [46]

• Terrorist training recipient conduct.  [47]

• Torture conduct. [49]

 

[1] These conviction-based grounds of deportation are also defined in Safe Havens Appendix A, [1], [3]-[6], [9], [10], [15]-[17], [20], [31], [33], [34], [39], [44], [45], [48], [50], [51], infra.
[2] INA § 101(a)(48)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48)(A).