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What is Deportation?

Deportation or removal involves the expulsion of a noncitizen from the United States. This expulsion may be based on grounds of inadmissibility or deportability. Other than falling out of status, one of the biggest reasons for an individual to be placed into deportation or removal proceedings is due to a criminal charge. This is especially true if the noncitizen receives a conviction for the crime in violation of state or federal criminal laws.

INA's Definition of "Conviction"

“The term “conviction” means, with respect to an alien, a formal judgment of guilt of the alien entered by a court or, if adjudication of guilt has been withheld, where-

(i) a judge or jury has found the alien guilty or the alien has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or has admitted sufficient facts to warrant a finding of guilt, and

(ii) the judge has ordered some form of punishment, penalty, or restraint on the alien’s liberty to be imposed.”
This has been interpreted as including ANY admission to guilt at ANY point before, during, or after the arrest. This includes any sort of confession (verbal/written/recorded/not-recorded) of committing the crime. This also includes any stipulation of any evidence that could be interpreted as an admission to the elements of the crime.

How Immigration Interprets Pleas

As a matter of practicality, this means any deferred adjudication or disposition/pre-trial diversion/ probation/ agreement/ or conditional dismissal must avoid using any language that could be interpreted as admitting facts that equate to committing the elements of the crime. It should be noted that with deferred adjudication/disposition this is almost impossible to accomplish because such agreements usually require an admission of “guilty” or “no contest”. Nolo Contendere and No Contest are the functional equivalents to Guilty in the immigration context.

A Criminal Charge & Immigration Charge?

When someone commits a crime and gets an “ICE Hold” or “Immigration Hold”, the criminal charge and immigration charges will need to be handled simultaneously. For these reasons, if you are charged with a criminal offense and are not a US citizen, you need to work with The Presti Law Firm so that we can assure your criminal charge is handled properly with intent to avoid bad immigration consequences. Working with The Presti Law Firm gives you defense attorneys working for you on both sides -criminal and immigration, defending against the state of Texas and defending against the federal government.

I am grateful for attorney, Michael Presti, for his work with my case. I was in the custody of ICE.

My family and I were detained and we were about to be deported, but the lawyer immediately began searching for a way for us to be able to stay in the country.

I was at the point of being deported 3 times, one in February, another in April, and the last in May, but in the last minute when I was ready to go to the airport, he always gave me the news that I was staying –the last time I was 10 minutes away from leaving my house to go to the airport when I received a call from the attorney saying that my stay of removal was granted!

I couldn’t believe any of this because my case was almost impossible, this was a miracle, miracle that thanks to God and to Michael, my attorney won my stay here in this country.

He worked hard, day and night to be able to find a way to help us, my husband and me, he found a visa so that we could legally stay.

I am happy and grateful because thanks to God and the attorney I am still here. Also, I have already gone to Mexico with my visa and returned without any problem.

Thanks to Michael, my lawyer, he never gave up and was always encouraging and always very positive –he would reassure me that we were going to win and that I wouldn’t be deported.

Sincerely,

M.S.V.

MSV

If you or someone you know has an immigration issue, please tell them to contact us. The best thing that anyone can do is be proactive. Don’t wait. Be proactive!  Call today for a FREE consultation. Call 214-342-8900