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California Criminal Convictions That Will Result In Your Deportation
If you are not a US citizen, a conviction for certain California criminal offenses will trigger your deportation (that is, your physical removal) from the United States.
If a court convicts you for any one of these deportable crimes, US Citizenship and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will remove you from the United States whether or not you have lived in this country for a significant period of time or how deeply-established your roots in the US have become.
Among the significant categories of deportable California crimes are:
“Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude,” (or CIMT for short)
Aggravated Felonies (though they may not literally be felonies in California)
Crimes dealing with controlled substances (drug crimes)
Gun offenses, also known as firearms offenses, and
Domestic violence offenses.
DOES YOUR ATTORNEY KNOW WHAT HE’S DOING?
Defending a noncitizen against California criminal charges is very delicate given the potential immigration repercussions that a criminal case can bring to bear. If a noncitizen defendant is lucky, he or she will receive a sentence that includes probation or even some incarceration...so long as it does not result in REMOVAL from the United States. That’s the tricky part.
It’s important for a criminal defense attorney with an immigration background to defend your case. Prior to starting his criminal defense practice, Attorney Lorgio Coimbra worked for many years as an Immigration Attorney and the Coimbra Law Firm continues representing immigrants in a criminal defense as well as an immigration capacity. Therefore, The Coimbra Law Firm is uniquely equipped with the knowledge and skill needed to effectively defend noncitizens BOTH from conviction AND deportation. Our competitors cannot issue such a boast.
Suppose, for example, that Carlos was born in El Salvador but came to the U.S. with his parents as a small child. He has been living in Bakersfield since that time. When Carlos is 20, he is caught with approximately 4 ounces of marijuana in his possession. The Kern County prosecutor initially files a charge against him for marijuana possession for sale, carrying a potential maximum sentence of 3 years in the California State Prison.
Further suppose that Carlos’ criminal defense attorney – who has no clue about immigration law – tells him that it’s okay to plead guilty to a lesser charge of possession of marijuana for personal use. The reason, his lawyer tells him, is that the conviction carries a reduced time in jail: 6 months as opposed to 3 years.
However, subsequent to entering a guilty plea, Carlos discovers that his “lesser” conviction (as with most every California drug conviction) is a deportable crime. Had his lawyer understood how immigration law intersects with California criminal law, he would probably not have so quickly relented to the prosecutor’s plea deal and actually fought the more severe accusation.
UNIQUELY EQUIPPED
Attorney Coimbra’s foray into the legal profession was in the area of immigration law in the late 1990's. As he climbed the professional ladder, he took on more responsibility, ascending to a Federal Immigration Law Practitioner, representing clients in New York, California, Hawaii and Texas. He now uses his unique immigration law skills to protect noncitizen clients from criminal convictions and their consequences.
