Crimes of Moral Turpitude and Deportation

In many cases, misdemeanors as well as felonies which are not “aggravated felonies” may be “crimes of moral turpitude” which can result in deportation. A “crime of moral turpitude” is a crime during which a person shows that he or she is willing to act in an immoral or cruel way towards another person, e.g. theft, fraud, battery with serious injury, etc. Determining if a particular offense is, indeed, a crime of moral turpitude requires a case-by-case evaluation. As in most immigration cases, winning the case will depend entirely on the skilled legal research done by an immigration deportation lawyer.

USICE will usually not charge the person with committing a crime of moral turpitude unless that crime was also a felony. At the same time, two crimes of moral turpitude, no matter what sentences were given, can form the basis for removal. On the other hand, if the inadmissibility provisions of the Act apply, a single crime of moral turpitude for which there was a sentence of 6 months or longer, even if only a misdemeanor, is a basis for an inadmissibility proceeding.