Immigration Consequences of Criminal Activity

Garcia, Michael John ; Eig, Larry M

Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service.

关键词: Minorities;    Aliens;    Immigration;    Criminal justice;   

RP-ID  :  RL32480
RP-ID  :  RL32480_2006Oct23

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

This report discusses the potential immigration consequences of criminalactivity. “Criminal activity” generally refers to conduct for which an alien has beenfound or plead guilty before a court of law, though in limited circumstancesconsequences may attach to the commission of a crime or admission of actsconstituting the essential elements of a crime. Consequences may flow fromviolations of either federal, state or, in many circumstances, foreign criminal law. Some federal crimes are set out in the INA itself — alien smuggling, for example.However, not all violations of immigration law are crimes. Notably, being in theU.S. without legal permission — i.e., being an “illegal alien” — is not a crime in andof itself. Thus, for example, an alien who overstays a student visa may be an “illegalalien,” in that the alien may be subject to removal from the U.S., but such an alienis not a “criminal alien.”