Immigration Consequences of Miami Criminal Charges

Immigration Consequences of Miami Criminal Charges

Getting charged with a crime in Miami can be really scary, especially if you’re not a U.S. citizen. A criminal conviction can affect your immigration status and even lead to deportation. But don’t panic! This article will explain the basics so you understand what’s going on.

How Criminal and Immigration Law Intersect

Immigration law and criminal law are two different legal systems, but they connect when a non-citizen gets charged with a crime. The criminal court looks at the crime and decides your guilt and punishment. But immigration law also looks at the crime and can decide you’re deportable or can’t get a green card. So even minor crimes can have big immigration consequences. It’s not just about jail time.

Crimes That Can Lead to Deportation

There’s two main categories of crimes that can get you deported – aggravated felonies and crimes involving moral turpitude (called CIMTs).

• Aggravated felonies are serious crimes like murder, rape, and drug trafficking. If you’re convicted of an aggravated felony, you’ll almost for sure be deported.
• CIMTs are things like theft, fraud, and assault. They show you’re morally bad. Just one CIMT conviction can lead to deportation if you got it within 5 years of coming to the U.S.

Other crimes like drug offenses, domestic violence, and gun crimes can also cause immigration problems. Basically anything worse than a traffic ticket could be an issue if you’re not a citizen.

What Counts as a Conviction?

You don’t actually have to be found guilty at a trial to get a conviction for immigration purposes. Things like pleading no contest, admitting to facts, and deferred adjudication count too. Even if the criminal court withholds adjudication so you don’t have a conviction, immigration still sees it as a conviction. Your record has to be totally clean to avoid problems.

Does Expungement Help?

This is tricky. If your conviction is expunged, the criminal court sees your record as clean. But immigration might still see it as a conviction and deport you based on it. It depends when the expungement happened. Since July 2011, most expungements don’t erase the conviction for immigration.

Seeking a Waiver of Deportation

If you have a conviction that makes you deportable, you can apply for a waiver in immigration court. This asks the judge to let you stay in the U.S. anyway. Whether you get the waiver depends on things like how long you’ve been here, your family ties, and whether you’ve done other good things.

Criminal Defense Strategies for Immigrants

The best thing is avoiding any conviction that could cause immigration problems. Smart defense strategies include:

• Plea bargaining to get the charges dropped or reduced to something minor.
• Postponing the case and hoping the police or prosecutor drops it.
• Letting you do a pretrial diversion program and then dismissing the charges if you stay out of trouble.

You need an experienced Miami criminal defense lawyer who understands immigration issues. They can work the system to find you the best outcome.

Getting Legal Help

If you’re an immigrant facing criminal charges in Miami, don’t go through it alone. Hire a lawyer who can protect both your criminal and immigration rights. Shop around to find someone you really trust. Ask if they have experience helping immigrants in your situation.

You’ll sleep better at night knowing your lawyer is an expert at keeping immigrants like you in the country. Don’t leave your fate to chance. Your future here is worth fighting for, so fight smart.