Juvenile Defendants and Immigration
by: R federico • September 26, 2011 • no comments
As current debate over the DREAM Act indicates, immigration law is seldom forgiving to minors. Indeed, if you are representing a minor who is charged with a crime and tried in our conventional court system, s/he will most likely face the same immigration consequences as adults upon conviction. However, as discussed below, there is a valuable exception for minors who are "convicted" of crimes in juvenile courts. Therefore, for the purposes of immigration law, the term "juvenile" is less relevant to an individual's age than it is to the place of conviction.
===Juvenile Court
=
Most grounds of removeability, other than Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude (CIMT) and some drug-related offenses, require a conviction. However, there is a very helpful exception for minors whose convictions occurred in a juvenile court. This exception is simple: for the purposes of immigration law, convictions in juvenile court are not considered "convictions." Instead, they are likened to violations or infractions- civil matters.
Beware, however, if a minor client has admitted to anyone (including in juvenile court) of being a drug addict, habitually using drugs, or dispensing or selling drugs to any other individual. Drug addiction or habitual use of illegal drugs is a ground of inadmissibility under INA § 212(a)(1)(A)(iv), and dispensing or selling drugs is considered "drug trafficking," as discussed in the section of this article, below. Ultimately, other grounds of inadmissibility or even removeability may still apply.
