What Is Crimmigration? WHERE CRIMINAL LAW AND IMMIGRATION COLLIDE

Crimmigration is a term that is used by criminal defense attorneys and immigration attorneys. It’s a term that was coined recently, and so there’s no exact definition of crimmigration. I don’t think it’s in the dictionary, but amongst New York and Westchester attorneys who practice in the field, in both criminal law and immigration, it refers to a body of law in the immigration law that deals with criminal offenses and their effects on someone’s immigration status. It basically means immigration laws and criminal laws put together, and that’s the term of art that the attorneys and judges use.

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Joseph Ramirez, Esq.

What Are The Biggest Components Of Crimmigration?

The repercussions of crimmigration for aliens that do not have immigration status, such as undocumented immigrants, or are not citizens, are that various New York state crimes can have an effect on someone’s immigration status. It does not have to be a serious crime. For example, in New York state, a conviction of shoplifting, which is petty larceny in New York state—it could even not be a crime, it could be a violation and not result in a criminal record—can have extremely serious consequences on someone’s immigration status. This is because, for example, petty larceny is considered a crime of moral turpitude, and that person would be subject to deportation if he were not yet admitted to the United States. It’s very important to have a criminal defense attorney that is well-versed in the immigration law in your criminal case. That’s the repercussions. The criminal body of law must be considered in conjunction with the immigration law to really determine what the consequences are. Our Westchester attorneys who practice both criminal defense and immigration always consider the immigration consequences of a particular plea bargain, as do our Manhattan criminal defense and immigration lawyers.

Who Needs To Be Concerned About The Increasing Policies Surrounding Crimmigration?

People that need to be concerned about the increasing policies surrounding crimmigration are anyone that is not a citizen of the United States. Even if you have permanent status, and you have a green card, there are still crimes that would subject you to deportation proceedings. People that don’t have any status should be especially concerned, as well as people that are applying for green card. Basically, any immigrant in the United States that has been arrested, convicted, or has pled guilty to a crime should be concerned. There are pretty severe consequences to certain criminal convictions in the immigration body of the law. If you are an immigrant facing criminal charges in any of the New York City criminal court, such as the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens or Brooklyn or if you are facing criminal charges in any of the Westchester Courts, such as White Plains, Yonkers, Scarsdale, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Mt. Kisco, Port Chester, Rye, Rye Brook, Pelham, Ossining, Hartsdale, Greenburgh or Elmsford, then you need to be concerned about the immigration consequences of your criminal charge.

When It Comes To Immigrants And Crimes, Who Is Susceptible To Deportation?

Any immigrant that has been convicted or pled guilty to an aggravated felony is susceptible to deportation. In addition, any immigrant who’s been even arrested for certain crimes that are not aggravated felonies, but may be misdemeanors, violations, even those in family court—for example violating an order of protection against someone’s spouse, significant other, or a domestic partner—could be considered an offense that would subject the person to deportation. Anyone that is here, is not a citizen, and has been arrested should be concerned because they would be susceptible to deportation.

What Generally Happens When An Immigrant Is Arrested And Charged With A Crime?

I can specifically speak for what happens in New York State when an immigrant is arrested and charged with a crime. Our offices are in New York, the Law Office of Michael Joseph. We have offices in Manhattan, Queens, and Westchester. I myself do “Crimmigration,” so I am extremely familiar with that process. The process I’m going to speak to you is specifically towards New York State, but it’s more or less the same process in any other state in the United States. When an immigrant is arrested, he or she is booked and fingerprinted. They may be interrogated, or not. Hopefully the immigrant will exercise his or her right to counsel, the right to remain silent, and not speak with any authorities. After they’re arrested, they are sent to Central Booking where they are processed.

Once they are finished with Central Booking, they are sent to a criminal court judge. In that hearing, the judge will only determine whether the defendant is going to be released, whether he’s going to be released on bail, or whether he’s not going to be released, if it’s a serious crime. This hearing is called an Arraignment. The immigrant should definitely have a criminal defense attorney that’s experienced in immigration law. Once the judge determines whether the person is going to be released, put on bail, or remanded without bail, then the case will be put over for another date for an initial appearance in criminal court. The defendant will defend against the case, fight the case, or plead guilty, whatever decision he makes with his criminal defense attorney. I should also note though that during this process, they will conduct a background check and they will run a rap sheet.

That rap sheet may state whether this person is a citizen or not. The law is a bit nebulous with the present administration. Under the prior administration, with President Obama, law enforcement officials did not have the authority to notify immigration if it was not an extremely serious offense. However, with the new administration, it’s unclear as to what their policy is. In my experience, I believe that this administration is actively searching for illegal immigrants, and even legal immigrants. During the process of being arrested, there will also be a background check to see whether that person is an immigrant, or is not here without a visa, or is a citizen.

Get Information on Crimmigration in New York or call the Law Office of Michael H. Joseph, PLLC for a FREE Initial Consultation at our Westchester Law Office at (914) 574-8330 and get the legal answers you are seeking, or for cases in New York City, call our Manhattan immigration and criminal lawyers at (212) 858-0503.

A GOOD ATTORNEY CAN MEAN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GREEN CARD AND DEPORTATION

Joseph is completely bilingual and fluent in Spanish.

What Is a Crime of Moral Turpitude?

An aggravated felony is a term of art that is used in the immigration law, and it encompasses an extremely broad category of criminal offenses. This list seems to keep growing as time passes on. It’s not getting any shorter. The consequence of being convicted of, or pleading guilty to, an aggravated felony is deportation. There is no relief for an aggravated felony. Typically, these crimes are drug trafficking, possession of large amounts of drugs, and murder. Some are very serious crimes, but then there are some crimes on that list that are not serious, such as misdemeanors. The term Aggravated Felony is a misnomer, because when we think of felony in New York, we think of a crime where the defendant can be sentenced to one or more years in prison. That’s a felony under New York state law.
Under immigration law, aggravated felonies are not only necessarily felonies, but could be misdemeanors. The term aggravated felony encompasses certain crimes that carry severe consequences, including deportation. There is another category of offenses which are called
Moral Turpitude. Moral Turpitudes are crimes that would subject the immigrant to certain consequences, but they are usually not as severe as an aggravated felony, and deportation can be avoided. The reason that it can be avoided is because there are various waivers for certain
moral turpitude crimes that can be applied to the immigration court, by the attorney. Moral turpitude crimes are mainly crimes that involve not telling the truth and involves any crime with fraudulent intent, such as false document charges, fraud, and other crimes which you would not think are moral turpitude.

If You Are Charged With A Crime- Try To Avoid A Conviction For A Crime Of Moral Turpitude

Hiring a New York criminal defense attorney who is knowledgable about immigration law and the immigration consequences of a criminal conviction is incredibly important. If you are negotiating a plea bargain, it is incredibly important to consider whether the crime you are pleading to is a crime of moral turpitude because it can affect your immigration status and your ability to apply for permanent residence in the future. For many crimes, there are various sub-sections and some subsections are crimes of moral turpitude and other sub-sections are not crimes of moral turpitude. So having an experienced N.Y.C. or Westchester criminal defense lawyer who can negotiate a plea to a subsection of the law which is not a crime of moral turpitude, may make all the difference in the world, for your future.

Can An Immigrant Be Deported Just For Being Arrested Or Do They Have To Be Convicted?

An immigrant can be deported just for being charged with a crime. Under immigration law, the government has the authority to search the record. They can, for example, use any statement in a criminal hearing against that person, and base the deportation charges on
factors or on statements that are not even related to the criminal complaint. They could face deportation, or they could face charges for other factors and other facts that are not contained in the complaint or not contained in the plea. That’s called Searching the Record. You have to
have an experienced New York City criminal attorney that is versed in “Crimmigration” to really defend you properly and can take steps to avoid deportation. A conviction does not necessarily have to take place, though it’s extremely rare and most deportations are based on a conviction. But there is case law and there have been cases where people have been deported on simply charges, or other factors,
other statements, or other events.

Can I Be Deported For Shoplifting

For even a minor offense such as shoplifting—even if you go in a store, and you take a piece of gum and you get caught—can result in deportation.

Immigration doesn’t care. That’s still considered a crime of moral turpitude, just by the action of someone taking something from a store that doesn’t belong to them. Even that simple act is a crime of moral turpitude, and you should be extremely concerned about that.

Our criminal defense attorney who handle immigration cases also know that the result, i.e., the conviction is more important to immigration than the accusation. So if the charge is reduced to a disorderly conduct, that is not a crime of moral turpitude, even if the original charge was a larceny. Our criminal defense attorneys fight hard and go the extra mile to do everything possible to resolve criminal cases in a way that does not result in a conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude.

Is The Original Charge or Final Dispostion Of a Criminal Charge More Important

When considering criminal convictions, Immigration focuses on the categorical approach, which means that the final disposition is what matters. In other words, what you are convicted of is more important than what you are arrested for. For example if you were arrested for shoplifting or possession of narcotics, those are both crimes of moral turpitude, but if our White Plains criminal defense lawyers or our Manhattan criminal defense attorneys can negotiate the charge down to a disorderly conduct, then you were only convicted of a disorderly conduct, but not shoplifting or possession of narcotics. In other words, while you were arrested for a crime of moral turpitude, you were not convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, which is incredibly important for immigration purposes and can make the difference between whether you can obtain a green card or will be denied and deported.