Deportation and Criminal Convictions -
Defense Against Deportation
If
a person is not a United States Citizen,
a criminal conviction can subject them to
removal
from the United States. If a person has
been convicted of certain criminal offenses,
including
simple or domestic battery, they can
be arrested, placed in removal proceedings and deported
from the USA regardless of how
long ago the criminal conviction occurred,
or how long
they have been in the country. Moreover,
a conviction for a criminal offense that
would not automatically subject them
to detention and potential removal from
the U.S., could
nonetheless preclude them from re-entering
the United States if they were to leave
the U.S. and seek to later re-enter.
A withhold
of adjudication counts as a criminal
conviction by the immigration officials,
even if the
record was sealed.
A person who has entered a plea of guilty
or no contest to a criminal charge may
have legal grounds to withdraw their plea
if the criminal court Judge did not advise
them, prior to entering the plea, that
their plea could subject them to deportation.
Prior to October 26, 2006 the immigration
law allowed a person two years from the
date they were threatened with deportation
to file a motion to withdraw their plea.
On October 26, 2006, the Florida Supreme
Court in State v. Green severely reduced
that time to two years from the date of
their conviction (with the exception that
a foreign national convicted prior to October
26,2006 will be allowed two years from
the date of the decision to file a motion
to withdraw their pleas in such cases).
If you or your family are not United States
Citizens and have been charged or convicted
of a criminal offense, you are at risk.
Consulting experienced and knowledgeable
attorneys who specialize in immigration
and criminal law is thus paramount to your
ability to protect your rights, defend
against the actions that you might be facing,
and seek to ameliorate the impact that
such actions will have on your ability
to remain in the United States.
Our immigration and criminal defense
attorneys are
very skilled and have represented hundreds
of clients in the past. If you or someone
you know is facing criminal or immigration
charges, contact our attorneys 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week, at 407-245-1232,
or fill out our online form. You can also
e-mail us at Attorney@ImmigrationCounselors.com.We will get back to you as soon as possible.
We value your privacy and will keep any
information strictly confidential.
