# ORR State Letter

**\#** 05 - 04 **Date:** March 24, 2005

**TO:** STATE REFUGEE COORDINATORS

NATIONAL VOLUNTARY AGENCIES

OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES

**FROM:** Nguyen Van Hanh, Ph.D.

Director

Office of Refugee Resettlement

**SUBJECT:** Immigration Consequences of a Criminal Conviction

**[Purpose of this Letter]{.underline}**

This State Letter is intended to provide general guidance regarding the
immigration consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. If you
encounter a non-citizen who has concerns that past or pending
involvement in the criminal justice system may affect his or her
immigration status, please advise the individual to obtain competent
legal advice from an authorized immigration attorney or
practitioner. (1) Additionally, service providers should be cautioned
against providing "legal" advice or guidance to clients, as this may
constitute the unauthorized practice of law.

A criminal conviction may prevent an individual from being permitted to
enter the United States (2) or may be the basis for an order of removal
(deportation). (3) Negative immigration consequences may be predicated
on an event or a criminal conviction that occurred many years in the
past. Non-citizens with a criminal history may encounter difficulties
when making an application for asylum, adjustment of status,
naturalization, or while being inspected at a port of entry and may
result in the loss of one's lawful immigration status.

This area of immigration/criminal law is complex and continuously
evolving. As an example, it is often difficult to know whether or not a
crime will be deemed a "crime involving moral turpitude" that may
subject a non-citizen to removal. (4) The Immigration and Nationality
Act (INA) does not define a "crime involving moral turpitude" and courts
have interpreted the term differently. Likewise, determining whether a
conviction will be deemed an "aggravated felony" is often complicated by
the fact that a crime classified as a "misdemeanor" under state and
federal criminal codes may be considered an "aggravated felony" under
the provisions of the INA. (5)

This State Letter is not intended to be used as a basis for providing
legal advice or determining whether or not specific conduct may or may
not prevent an individual from being permitted to enter this country or
subject a non-citizen to removal. Rather, it is provided to alert
interested parties of the serious ramifications of a criminal conviction
due to the complexities in the immigration law, and further to suggest
that if one encounters an individual with a criminal history, the person
should be encouraged to obtain competent legal advice from an authorized
immigration attorney or practitioner.

**If you have questions regarding any of the information contained in
this State Letter, please contact Paul Gleason at (202) 401-4604 or
pgleason@acf.hhs.gov.**

\(1\) Sources for such advice include the American Immigration Lawyers\'
Association (AILA) and the lists of immigrant legal assistance
organizations often maintained by local area Department of Justice
Immigration Courts.

\(2\) §212 (a)(2); (8 U.S.C. 1182 (a)(2))

\(3\) §237 (a)(2); (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2))

\(4\) §237 (a)(2)(A)(i); (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(A)(i))

\(5\) §237 (a)(2)(A)(iii); (8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii))