What categories of crimes make legal immigrants deportable under current U.S. law?
Executive summary
Legal immigrants can be deported under three core criminal umbrellas: aggravated felonies, crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMTs) — including two or more CIMTs after admission — and certain enumerated offenses such as controlled‑substance violations, firearms offenses, high‑speed flight from checkpoints, and fraud-related grounds (see statutory text and practice guides) [1] [2] [3]. Practice guides and law firms emphasize common examples — theft, fraud, assault, drug offenses, violent crimes, and firearms violations — and warn that even single convictions can trigger removal depending on timing, sentence length, and whether multiple CIMTs are involved [4] [5] [6].
1. The statutory frame: what Congress lists as deportable
The Immigration and Nationality Act, as summarized in 8 U.S.C. §1227 and interpreted in practice, makes an alien deportable for aggravated felonies at any time after admission and for two or more crimes involving moral turpitude not arising from a single scheme; the statute also enumerates other specific crimes (for example, drug and firearms offenses, fraud-related grounds, and high‑speed flight from an immigration checkpoint) as independent deportability grounds [1] [2] [3].
2. Aggravated felonies: the “cannot-avoid” category
Aggravated felonies are the most serious immigration-triggering crimes and can make a legal immigrant removable regardless of when they were admitted [1]. Practice summaries list murder, rape, many sex offenses involving minors, drug trafficking, large-scale fraud, money laundering and other serious offenses as fitting the category — and immigration law treats some offenses as aggravated felonies even when criminal law labels them differently [2].
3. Crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMTs): the murky but powerful standard
CIMTs are a broad, less precisely defined category that covers offenses “shocking to the conscience” or involving dishonesty; common examples offered by defense guides include theft, fraud and assault [4] [7]. A single CIMT can lead to deportation if it meets other statutory conditions (e.g., committed within five years of admission and carrying a sentence of one year or more); two or more CIMTs after admission — even if unrelated — make a noncitizen deportable under the INA [4] [3].
4. Enumerated deportable offenses beyond CIMTs and aggravated felonies
Separate INA provisions list specific deportable offenses such as controlled‑substance convictions, firearm offenses (possession, sale, trafficking), domestic violence or child abuse in some contexts, fraud that procures immigration documents, and even high‑speed flight from an immigration checkpoint [1] [5] [2]. Immigration practice guides and lawyers stress that state‑law markings (e.g., less serious state charges) can still map onto these federal immigration grounds depending on facts and sentencing [4] [6].
5. Timing, sentencing and procedural traps that change outcomes
Whether a conviction triggers deportation depends on when the crime occurred (sometimes within five years after admission matters), the sentence imposed (e.g., one year threshold used for some CIMT rules), and whether multiple convictions arise from a single scheme (the two‑CIMT ground excludes a single scheme) [4] [3]. Law firms and defense groups repeatedly warn that pleading guilty or taking a plea deal can create immigration consequences — even for relatively minor crimes — and that state legalization (e.g., marijuana) does not override federal immigration consequences [4] [6].
6. Enforcement reality: who ICE targets and how criminal history factors
ICE enforcement categories show ERO arrests are broken down by criminal history, including people with convictions, pending charges, and those removable for immigration reasons alone (e.g., overstays); ICE also focuses on individuals with serious convictions or reentry after removal, reflecting the statutory emphasis on serious and multiple crimes [8]. Advocacy groups and defense attorneys note enforcement priorities and detention rules have shifted recently via laws and policy (e.g., Laken Riley Act) that expand mandatory detention for some categories [9].
7. Competing perspectives and practical advice from sources
Legal practice sources present competing emphases: immigration‑law summaries stress statutory bright lines (aggravated felonies, two CIMTs), while defense blogs and firms highlight the real‑world risk that “lesser” crimes (DUIs, petty theft, some drug cases, firearms offenses) can nonetheless cascade into removal depending on facts and counsel quality [2] [4] [5]. Immigrant‑defense organizations focus on preserving eligibility for relief and caution that criminal pleas can foreclose immigration options [9] [10].
Limitations and final note
Available sources outline categories and common examples but do not provide a definitive master list applicable to every factual scenario; whether a specific state conviction equals an aggravated felony or a CIMT is fact‑dependent and often litigated (not found in current reporting). Consult an immigration attorney when a criminal charge is pending because small differences in pleas, sentencing, and timing determine deportability [4] [3].