Immigration and Criminal Law Specialist

Criminal lawyers must have a good understanding of immigration law to protect their clients.  Failure of a criminal lawyer to fully understand the consequences of a criminal plea can lead to disastrous immigration consequences.    A person can legally be in the United States, even possess a resident alien card, (Green Card), and still find themselves in removal (deportation) proceedings.   Unless a person is a United States citizen, a conviction, even for the most minor crimes can cause serious immigration consequences.  One example of this is driving without a drivers license.

Driving without a license, in violation of California Vehicle Code 12500, can be charged as either a misdemeanor or an infraction.  If it is a misdemeanor, it can lead to an immigrants removal from the United States.   Before you say, just get a license, keep in mind this may not be possible. Depending on the persons status they may or may not be able to get a license.

Here is a couple of situations where this can occur:

A person can legally be in the United States pursuant to Temporary Protected Status-  These regulations can be found in 8 C.F.R. § 244.   Under TPS, if a person is convicted of two misdemeanors, they can lose this status.  Therefore, getting convicted twice of driving without a license could result is the status being revoked, and the immigrant being removed from the country.

Also, if a person does not have any legal status, and they are arrested for driving without a license, they could find themselves in county jail, with an immigration hold.  This could also lead to their removal from the country.

The best solution in these situations is to consult an immigration attorney BEFORE taking any sort of plea to any type of criminal case.

The Law Offices of Craig Renetzky is one of only a few firms in California with experts in the area of both criminal and immigration law.  For a free consultation fill out our online form.