Green cards and aggravated felonies
Having a “green card” provides many benefits and opportunities to an immigrant to the United States. It allows the immigrant the right to legally work and reside in the United States; to re-enter the United States virtually hassle-free after foreign travel; and more importantly, it allows the immigrant the opportunity to become a United States citizen after a period of time prescribed by law. However, it does not allow an immigrant the right to vote in an election in the United States, a right reserved only for citizens.
It is therefore common for criminal immigrants who are in deportation or removal proceedings before an immigration judge, to believe that their “green cards,” many years of residence and employment in the United States, and extensive family ties in the United States, will be an automatic free pass to prevent deportation or removal to their native country.
A typical scenario may sound like this: a teenager immigrated to the United States with his parents, sisters and brothers more than 21 years ago. The family was fortunate to become permanent residents and obtain “green cards.” The parents worked hard to provide for the family, the children go to school and do well, and the family settles into a new home and a new country. Eventually one or more of the family members become United States citizens.
But the teenager in our scenario does not do as well as his sisters and brothers. He never applies for United States citizenship when eligible to do so, and he also becomes involved in a life of crime, including drug dealing. The teenager is now a man with a “green card,” several criminal convictions, and a family of his own. His life of crime escalates and criminal sentences are passed.
Eventually he is served with a document requiring him to appear before an immigration judge for removal from the United States to his native country. The document charges that he has committed aggravated felonies, a term of art in immigration law which includes the most serious criminal offenses and drug-related crimes.
While the immigration law has built-in safeguards and many options for relief for permanent residents if they are placed in removal proceedings, such as, to name a few, Cancellation of Removal; 212(c) relief, where applicable; Suspension of Deportation, where applicable; Adjustment of Status, where applicable; Withholding of Removal and Convention Against Torture claim, where applicable; and Deferred Action Status, where applicable; the “green card” does not generally provide much relief when the immigrant has recent convictions for aggravated felonies.
The tears of the parents, the wife, the children, the sisters and brothers, the grandparents, the aunts and uncles, the many years of residence and employment in the United States as a “green card” holder, all may become meaningless in the face of recent convictions for aggravated felonies, and fail to halt removal from the United States.
The solution seems to be clear. While it may be a cliché, crime really does not pay. It can cost an immigrant not only his or her liberty, but also the right to remain in the United States as a permanent resident. While it may be too late for some that have already been removed to their native countries, there is always hope for the thousands of hard working and law-abiding immigrant families in the United States.