Green card holder arrested for domestic violence, no conviction yet, can I be deported?

[Mansarovar3000]

Attorney is telling me that the charges can be dismissed or reduced to class c misdemeanor. If I take a plea bargain and get the charges reduced to class c misdemeanor, would I still be deported?

This is what I found on a lawyer website, need someone to clarify.

Immigration/Deportation Consequences:

This case may have immigration/deportation consequences depending upon your citizenship status. Under §237(a)(2)(E) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (The Act), any alien who at any time after entry is convicted of a crime of domestic violence is deportable. In the immigration context, “a crime of domestic violence” means any crime of violence, as defined by 18 USC §16, against a person committed by a current or former spouse of the person, by an individual with whom the person shares a child in common, by an individual who is cohabitating with or has cohabited with the person as a spouse, by an individual similarly situated to a spouse of the person under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction where the offense occurs. §237(a)(2)(E)(ii).

Section 237 applies to any domestic violence regardless of its classifications. The fact that the alien may have only been convicted of a class C misdemeanor is irrelevant, as is the severity of the injuries. It is important to note that it does not matter whether there was an affirmative finding of family violence (AFFV) noted on the judgment because the INS can go behind the judgment and look at the facts of the case to determine if the case involved family violence. For the purposes of the Act, a conviction includes straight probation, fines only or deferred adjudication.

 

[So_Special]

The short answer to your question is yes, domestic violence conviction no matter the class is a deportable offense.

 

[dafortycal]

The short answer to your question is yes, domestic violence conviction no matter the class is a deportable offense.

The real answer is maybe. It depends on the class of crime, sentence possible, how long someone has been in the USA. Some State statutes are badly written, and can't be used in immigration court. Ask for a plea deal where it the conviction is for disrupbing the peace.

e) Assault Against Spouse (SPLIT)

(1) Matter of Tran, 21 I. & N. Dec. 291 (BIA 1996), held that willful infliction of corporal injury on a spouse, cohabitant, or parent or child of the perpetrator's constitutes a CIMT.

(2) Matter of Deanda-Romo, 23 I. & N. Dec. 597 (BIA 2003), held a Texas misdemeanor conviction of assault with bodily injury to a spouse was a CIMT.

(3) Matter of Garcia-Hernandez, 23 I. & N. Dec. 590 (BIA 2003), held California misdemeanor conviction for corporal injury to a spouse was a CIMT. The conviction qualified for the petty offense exception at § 212(a)(2)(A)(ii), even though the alien was also convicted of battery, a non-CIMT. The limitation that the alien be convicted of only one crime is exceeded only by the commission of a second CIMT, not by the commission of any other type of crime.

(4) Matter of Sanudo, 23 I. & N. Dec. 968 (BIA 2006), held that California crime of domestic battery was not a crime involving moral turpitude because the statute did not require an “actual or intended physical harm to the victim.” Similarly, in Matter of Sejas, 24 I. & N. Dec. 236 (BIA 2007), the BIA held that the offense of assault and battery against a family or household member in violation of Virginia Code § 18.2-57.2 was not categorically a crime involving moral turpitude because the statute does not require “actual infliction of physical injury and may include any touching, however slight” and while Virginia law requires an intent to cause injury “the intended injury may be to the feelings or mind, as well as to the corporeal person.” Id. at 238.