Typically, a DUI conviction does not result in serious consequences for immigrants living in California. However, that can change under specific circumstances, including driving while under the influence with a minor under 14 in the car or driving while under the influence when you are an alcohol or drug addict. If your DUI conviction affects your immigration status, you could face deportation or be marked as inadmissible in the United States. That means losing everything you have worked hard for in America, including your family, friends, and property.
It helps to work closely with an experienced criminal attorney if you face DUI charges that could result in serious immigration consequences. A skilled attorney will find and use the best defense strategies to compel the judge to reduce or dismiss your charges for a more favorable outcome.
Crimes that Affect Your Immigration Status
The United States receives hundreds of immigrants from all over the world every year. Once in the country, immigrants can work, live freely, and acquire property. After years of living and working as an immigrant, you can upgrade your status to citizenship, whereby you can vote and enjoy other rights extended to all U.S. citizens. However, your status is subject to change under specific circumstances, including being guilty of specific offenses. The law has specified some offenses that could result in deportation and those that could cause you to become inadmissible into the country. Understanding these offenses helps you prepare well if you are arrested for a deportable or inadmissible offense.
According to the Immigration & Nationality Act, some convictions will automatically result in inadmissibility or deportation. If a particular offense subjects you to deportation, you can be deported or removed from the United States after serving your sentence and paying the required court fines. If an offense makes you inadmissible, you will not do the following:
- You will not return to the United States after leaving for whatever reason.
- You cannot be neutralized or become a citizen, regardless of how long you remain in the U.S.
- You cannot apply for permanent residence if you do not have a green card.
- You cannot seek to adjust your immigration status from illegal to legal.
The law has a long list of violations that could result in deportation for an immigrant. Examples of these crimes (deportable crimes) include the following:
- Crimes of moral turpitude, like murder, burglary, embezzlement, perjury, and aggravated assault.
- Aggravated felony offenses.
- Crimes involving child neglect and knowledge of it.
- Drug-related crimes.
Crimes of Moral Turpitude
Though there is no specific definition of crimes of moral turpitude, they refer to all crimes involving fraud, dishonesty, or depraved conduct that could shock a reasonable person. Other examples include murder and robbery.
Aggravated Felonies
Aggravated felonies are more severe offenses, including violent felonies like kidnapping, rape, and murder, and some low-level white-collar, drug-related, and fraud-related crimes.
Drug Crimes
Drug offenses are serious, and they involve the use, sale, and distribution of regulated substances. If you are convicted of a drug-related offense involving any of the controlled substances listed under the Controlled Substances Act, you could face deportation.
Note: State and federal laws define drug offenses differently. It complicates matters if immigration law is used in your case. Thus, an aggressive DUI attorney can mount a solid defense against your deportation if you face charges for driving while under the influence of drugs or DUI with a minor under 14 in the vehicle. But, you could also face a deportation hearing in an immigration court. Your best approach would be to avoid a DUI-related conviction. Then, you will not have to worry about the severe consequences of the conviction on your immigration status.
DUID and Prior Convictions
Driving while under the influence of drugs (DUID) is one of the DUI-related crimes that can result in deportation or inadmissibility. When the police arrest you for a DUI, they investigate your criminal history to determine how the prosecutor will treat your currency charges. Your DUI charges become more serious with every prior conviction on your record, even if it is not drug- or alcohol-related. If you are addicted to drugs, the law prohibits you from operating any kind of vehicle.
Thus, if you have a previous DUI conviction on your record or drug-related paraphernalia in your vehicle during arrest, it makes your drug consumption appear habitual. You will likely face graver problems as an immigrant for that.
Child Neglect or Knowledge of It
Driving while intoxicated and with a minor in the vehicle can result in two serious and separate charges, including child endangerment. A conviction for these two offenses will affect your immigration status, resulting in deportation or removal from the U.S.
Typically, child endangerment is not a solid ground for inadmissibility and deportation. You commit child endangerment when you place a child in a situation that threatens their safety or wellbeing. However, knowingly placing a minor in danger is sufficient grounds for deportation, according to the Immigration & Nationality Code.
Crimes That Make You Inadmissible to the United States
Inadmissible offenses prevent you from legally entering the United States or becoming a green card holder or citizen. Examples of these crimes include the following:
- Any crime of moral turpitude you commit within five years after entering the U.S.
- Drug-related crimes.
- If you commit a minimum of two offenses whose total prison sentence exceeds five.
- Crimes that demonstrate your lack of sound morals.
If you face charges for any of these offenses, you could lose your chance to enjoy the good life you have built for yourself in the United States. However, an aggressive DUI attorney can help with your defense to avoid the serious immigration consequences and other effects of a criminal conviction. Your attorney will first inform you of the likely outcomes of a conviction if you plead guilty or do not contest your charges. They will also advise you against accepting any plea bargain that could result in deportation or inadmissibility.
How a DUI Conviction Can Affect Your Immigration Status
DUI convictions involving alcohol consumption do not necessarily affect your immigration status. These crimes are usually misdemeanors, not aggravated felonies. They also do not qualify as crimes of moral turpitude. The only time a DUI conviction involving alcohol will trigger an immigration consequence is when the following circumstances apply:
- If you have a prior conviction for a similar crime or a serious criminal record.
- If the total prison sentence for your previous crimes adds up to five years or more.
Watson murder, or DUI murder, is one of the DUI-related offenses that counts as a crime of moral turpitude. You commit DUI murder if you drive while intoxicated or high on drugs, with implied malice, and cause an accident in which someone loses their life. The prosecutor will prove you had implied malice or malice aforethought if the following are true:
- You intentionally committed an act, which, in this case, is driving while intoxicated.
- The probable and natural consequences of your actions are a danger to human life.
- You knew or should have reasonably known that your actions are a danger to human life.
- You deliberately acted with a clear disregard for life.
Additionally, driving while under the influence of drugs can result in serious immigration consequences. According to the Immigration Law, you will likely be deported and marked inadmissible if you are convicted of a drug-related crime. DUID is a drug-related crime and a serious offense, like every other crime involving controlled substances. Thus, a DUID conviction can result in immediate removal from the U.S.
But, federal law defines drugs differently from state law. It means that you could avoid deportation if you face drug charges in a California court and are found guilty, even when the drug in question is listed under the federal list of controlled drugs. But you still have to face charges in an immigration court. It means that facing a trial for a DUID in a criminal court is still risky, as it could result in a conviction. The conviction could trigger an immigration case. A skilled attorney can advise you to accept a plea bargain for a less severe DUI offense that does not have serious immigration consequences.
Immigration Consequences if You Had a Minor in the Vehicle
Driving while intoxicated with a minor in the car is a serious offense that could affect your immigration status. In addition to a DUI-related charge, the prosecutor can file charges for child endangerment against you. If a jury trial delivers a guilty verdict against you for child endangerment, you will likely face deportation and could be marked as inadmissible.
Note that a DUI conviction does not result in immigration consequences, even when the judge enhances your sentence for having a minor in the vehicle. But if the prosecutor demonstrates that you knowingly endangered a minor, you will likely face deportation.
Child endangerment is potentially a moral turpitude crime. It involves committing an act that would shock a reasonable person (the act, in this case, is knowingly placing a minor in the way of danger).
Immigration Consequences if You Have Prior DUI Convictions
A severe criminal history can also affect your immigration status. A repeat offender could be marked as inadmissible, even when they only have prior convictions for ordinary DUI offenses. What matters is the time you have spent behind bars after every conviction. If your total incarceration time for all your prior convictions is up to five years, you will face immigration consequences.
The immigration law states that an immigrant becomes inadmissible if the following are true:
- They are convicted of a minimum of two crimes, one or more of which is a DUI.
- Their total prison or jail sentence exceeds five years.
The five-year total jail or prison time for numerous convictions will likely occur if you have felony convictions or at least one felony DUI conviction. Remember that a fourth DUI within ten years is usually a felony. It carries a jail sentence of three years. When you combine the three-year sentence with the penalties for the other DUI convictions, you could meet the criteria for inadmissibility.
A DUI Affects Your Good Moral Character
Immigrants are required to demonstrate they have good moral character when changing their status.
For example, you must demonstrate good moral character to become a citizen or petition the court to cancel the order for your deportation. Making this demonstration when you have a criminal history becomes a challenge. Typically, one or more DUI convictions on your record will affect your moral character, even for an ordinary DUI. Having more than one DUI conviction will cause government officers to deduce that you are a habitual drunkard. If you are labeled a habitual drunkard, you are considered a person of questionable moral character under immigration law.
Note: Being labeled a habitual drunkard does not mean that you are an alcoholic. Alcoholism is usually not a factor to consider when an immigrant is applying for a status change. The immigration department only considers your behavior within a particular period to determine your eligibility for a status change.
If you are an immigrant and are worried about actions or inactions that could affect your current status and future attempts to change your status, avoiding a DUI is advisable. Even an ordinary DUI conviction can affect your situation in the future, causing you to lose everything you have in the U.S. through deportation.
Find an Experienced DUI Attorney Near Me
Do you or someone you know face a DUI conviction in Los Angeles that could affect your immigration status?
Speaking to an experienced DUI attorney to understand these consequences and your options is advisable. A skilled attorney will discuss some strategies they can use in your situation to obtain a favorable outcome.
At Jonathan Franklin DUI Attorney, we understand how serious deportation and inadmissibility are to you, especially if you have a solid life in California. Our skilled attorneys will work closely with you to fight your charges and the deportation or inadmissibility. Call us at 323-464-6700 to learn more about your situation and our services.
