Mar
14

WLG Newsletter: "Domestic Assault-Fear: No Longer a Safe Plea for Non-Citizens"

WLG published a "crimmigration" newsletter in July 2013 which discussed the immigration consequences of pleading guilty to a "Domestic Assault-Fear" charge.  Below is the text in full.  A PDF version is available here:  137-105-wlg-newsletter-domestic-assault-fear-no-longer-safe-plea-non-citizens.pdf

Domestic Assault-Fear: No Longer a Safe Plea for Non-Citizens

July 2013

The attorneys at Wilson Law Group, leading practitioners of immigration law in North America, have encountered an important development affecting noncitizen defendants that has surfaced in the last few months....

Dec
16

DHS Prioritizes Removal of Individuals with DUI Convictions

There are many reasons not to drink and drive, but now we’ll give you one more. As part of President Obama’s executive action on immigration reform, the Department of Homeland Security has a new set of civil immigration enforcement priorities. The new priorities are divided into Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 priorities from highest to lowest. Tier 1 includes suspected terrorists, gang members, aggravated felons, and other top priorities for removal. Tier 2 includes individuals convicted of three or more misdemeanors, excluding minor traffic-related crimes, as well as individuals convicted...

Feb
14

When Is a Conviction a Crime of Violence - the evolving interpretation of 18 USC Section 16

Challenging the Use of 18 U.S.C. § 16(b) in Deportation Proceedings.

The Armed Career Criminal Act of 1984 (ACCA) is a federal law that provides sentence enhancements for felons in possession of a firearm, if the felon has three or more previous convictions for a “violent felony.” The term “violent felony” includes any felony that “involves conduct that presents a serious potential risk of physical injury to another.” 18 U.S.C. § 924(e)(2)(B). This portion of the definition, known as the “residual clause,” is unique in that it is not focused on the elements of a conviction...

Apr
9

Solicitation of Prostitution – Morality Meets Deportation

Solicitation of Prostitution –  Morality Meets Deportation

The immigration consequences of a conviction for solicitation of a prostitute for several decades was not considered categorically a crime involving moral turpitude (hereinafter “CIMT”), although Wilson Law Group cautioned that it was potentially such a crime.  Recently, the Eighth Circuit issued an opinion in Gomez-Gutierrez v. Lynch definitively categorizing the 2006 version of the Minnesota solicitation of a prostitute statute as a CIMT. No. 14-3374, 2016 WL 362427, at*4 (8th Cir. Jan. 29, 2016).

Gomez-Gutierrez means that...

Nov
26

And Behind Door Number Two - a New Path to Post Conviction Relief

Many criminal convictions carry severe consequences for non-citizens. These range from not being able to adjust status to mandatory detention and removal from the U.S. The problem for non-citizens with a criminal history is compounded by the fact that the federal definition of what a conviction is sweeps much broader than the definition in Minnesota and other states. The Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) defines a conviction as a formal judgment of guilt of the alien entered by a court or, if adjudication of guilt has been withheld, where:

  a judge or jury has found the alien...