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New Deportation Ground: Federal Conviction Of Failure To Register As A Sex Offenderby Norton Tooby and Joseph Justin Rollin
Effective July 27, 2006, Congress passed a law which adds a new deportation ground to the INA making deportable '[a]ny alien who is convicted under [18 U.S.C. § 2250] . . . .' [1] The law also renumbers former INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(v) (pardons) as (vi). This new law also precludes United States citizens or lawful permanent residents who have been convicted of a specific list of offenses committed against minors from petitioning to obtain lawful permanent resident status for their family members.[2] While a federal conviction of violating 18 U.S.C. § 2250 triggers deportation and disqualification from eligibility for cancellation of removal for non-lawful permanent residents, it does not appear to trigger any other major adverse immigration consequences:
This conviction therefore does not trigger any of the listed adverse immigration consequences except for deportation and disqualification from eligibility for cancellation of removal for non-lawful permanent residents. The federal criminal offense conviction of which constitutes this new ground of deportation was recently enacted and codified in 18 U.S.C. § 2250. It requires persons who have been convicted in any jurisdiction of any of a large number of specific sex offenses to register in the jurisdictions of their conviction, incarceration, residence, or school within three business days after sentence or prior to release from custody. Any noncitizens who violate this new registration requirement may be convicted in federal court, and, once convicted, are deportable and disqualified from cancellation for non-LPRs. It is therefore very important to educate the immigration and criminal defense bars immediately on this situation, so as to prevent these deportable convictions by ensuring that our clients comply with this new requirement. A more detailed treatment of this new ground of deportation may be found at www.CriminalAndImmigrationLaw.com. Because a noncitizen must first have been convicted of a listed 'sex offense,' and then have failed to register, and then have been convicted under federal law of failure to register, few noncitizens will be subjected to this ground of deportation. Moreover, they will suffer the immigration consequences of their prior conviction for a 'sex offense,' regardless of this new deportation ground. Finally, this conviction triggers only deportation and disqualification from cancellation of removal for non-LPRs, while leaving open the possibility of all sorts of other forms of relief in immigration court. Once again, this legislation appears to be little more than a public relations stunt, insofar as the great majority of noncitizens is concerned. Nonetheless, it provides three important ways the government can attack noncitizens convicted of sex offenses, and in effect nationalizes the machinery of sex offender registration, and affected clients should be warned of the importance of complying with this new legislation. Footnotes 1 - INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(v), added by Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, HR 4472, PL 109-248, § 401 (July 27, 2006). 2 - See Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, HR 4472, PL 109-248, § 402 (July 27, 2006). 3 - INA § 101(a)(43). 4 - INA § 240A(d)(1)(B)(a noncitizen with a conviction for violating 18 U.S.C. § 2250 has not 'committed an offense referred to in section 212(a)(2) . . . .'). 5 - INA § 236(c)(1). 6 - INA § 101(a)(13)(C)(v)(a noncitizen with a conviction of violating 18 U.S.C. § 2250 has not 'committed an offense referred to in section 212(a)(2) . . . .'). 7 - INA § 101(f)(3). 8 - INA § 208(b)(2)(B)(i), 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(2)(B)(i). 9 - INA § 240B(a)(1), 8 U.S.C. § 1229c(a)(1). 10 - INA § 237(a)(4), 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(4). Copyright (c) 2006 by Norton Tooby. All rights reserved.
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