The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Padilla v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356 (2010) that defendants have a Constitutional right to receive accurate advice from their criminal attorneys about the immigration consequences of any criminal conviction. The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that where the immigration consequences of a…
On Friday, August 22, 2014, John Gihon, a partner with Lasnetski Gihon Law, provided a two-hour training course to attorneys with the Public Defender’s Office in Jacksonville, Florida. The training course was entitled, the Immigration Consequences of Criminal Prosecution, or “Crimmigration.” Mr. Gihon is a former state prosecutor and former…
This is a common occurrence in the state of Florida. Non-citizens are arrested for crimes and they enter pleas to the charges without being told of the probable or possible immigration consequences of their convictions. Many criminal defense attorneys have little or no knowledge of the immigration laws of the…
On August 15, 2014, the Board of Immigration Appeals issued a published decision in Matter of L-G-H-, 26 I&N Dec. 365 (BIA 2014), regarding the immigration consequences of a conviction for violating Florida Statute § 893.13(1)(a)(1) (sale, manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver, a controlled…
President Obama has said that if Congress failed to act to pass comprehensive immigration reform before the August Summer recess, he would be forced to take action on the matter. Many legal scholars and activists have chimed in on what they think the President should do and what they think…
The short answer is no for a sealed record, but likely yes for an expunged record. If you seal a criminal record, it does not erase it for immigration purposes. Therefore, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can still use that criminal record to seek to remove you from the…
In 1996 the U.S. Congress changed the law regarding asylum by imposing a new potential penalty for all asylum applicants who filed applications after April 1, 1997. This new penalty would bar any applicant, who filed a frivolous application, from receiving any benefit under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).…
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives recently proposed a bill aimed at dealing with the crisis currently taking place on the Southwest Border. House Judiciary Chairman, Rep. Bob Goodlatte introduced the bill and provided the following support for it: “Since President Obama won’t take actions to quell this activity,…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently issued a decision that gives hope to immigrants around the world fleeing violence and corruption in their home countries. In a decision styled, Garcia v. Holder (case number 13-60381) the federal court rejected a decision by the Immigration Judge and…
It is something that most non-citizens do not even think of when they apply for asylum here in the United States. However, it happens on a not-so-infrequent basis. A non-citizen, who was persecuted in their home country, comes to the U.S. for help, for protection, for asylum, and then out…