Aggravated Felonies in Tampa, FL

Aggravated Felonies of Alien Smuggling under INA §101(a)(43)(N)

These are offenses included in INA 274(a)(1)(A) or (a)(2). There is an exception for smuggling someone’s own parent, spouse, or child.

An offense described under INA §§285(a) or 276 under INA 101(a)(43)(O)

These crimes relate to offenses committed by a person previously deported for an aggravated felony.

Falsely making, forging, counterfeiting, mutilating, or altering a passport or instrument under INA §101(a)(43)(P)

These are offenses described in 18 USC §1543 or 18 USC §1546(a) and a term of imprisonment of 12 months was imposed. There is an exception for a person helping a spouse, a child or a parent.

Offenses relating to a failure to appear by a defendant for service of a sentence under INA §101(a)(43)(Q)

These include offenses where the possible sentence is 5 years or more.

An offense relating to commercial bribery, counterfeiting, forgery, or trafficking in the vehicle with an altered ID number under INA §101(a)(43)(R)

The term of imprisonment must be more than one year. It includes the following crimes:

• Forgery: the definition includes a) false or making material alterations; b) with intent to defraud, and c) of writing, if genuine, might be of legal efficacy or the foundation of legal liability. Alvarez v. Lynch, 828 F.3d 288 (4th Cir. 2016).
• Counterfeiting
• Commercial Bribery

An offense relating to obstruction of justice, perjury, or subornation of perjury or bribery under INA §101(a)(43)(S)

The Board of Immigration Appeals has determined that perjury requires a false written or oral statement knowingly and willfully under oath. Matter of Alverado, 26 I&N Dec. 895, 901-902 (BIA 2016). Moreover, the term of imprisonment must be at least one year. Obstruction, according to the Board of Immigration Appeals relates to affirmative and intentional attempts, with specific intent, to interfere with judicial proceedings. Matter of Velenzuela Gallardo, 25 I&N Dec. 838 (BIA 2012).

An Offense Relating to a failure to appear before a court pursuant to a court order under INA §101(a)(43)(T)

An attempt or conspiracy to commit any of the crimes above under INA §101(a)(43)(U)

For a person to be deportable under the attempt provision, the immigrant must be charged under that provision. Matter of Onyido, 22 I&N Dec. 552 (BIA 1999). For conspiracy grounds, the underlying offense must be an aggravated felony. Villavicencio v. Sessions, 879 F.3d 941, 946 (9th Cir. 2018).

A conviction for one of the abovementioned crimes will have serious consequences on an immigrant’s immigration status. Our office has helped numerous clients before and after their criminal pleas to avoid these consequences. Call us today.