When the accused faces loss of family and property, as well as liberty Miriam Gohara

Almost any drug offense - including marijuana possession - can lead to deportation. A drug offense can prevent an undocumented immigrant from getting status or result in deportation for a lawful permanent resident who has lived in the U.S. for decades. This webinar will help defense counsel meet their duty under Padilla by providing an overview of the immigration consequences of drug offenses and offer strategies to avoid or minimize those consequences.

The U.S. Supreme Court held in Padilla v. Kentucky that criminal defense attorneys have a Sixth Amendment duty to advise clients about immigration consequences of their criminal cases, and that failure to do so is ineffective assistance of counsel. With record numbers of immigrants being deported for relatively minor criminal offenses, it is imperative that anyone representing noncitizens understand basic concepts regarding the interplay between immigration and criminal law and be aware of emerging issues.

Domestic violence and related offenses including child abuse, neglect, and abandonment and violation of a protective order can carry immigration consequences for both undocumented persons and persons with lawful immigration status. This webinar covers the immigration consequences that domestic violence and related offenses have upon different immigrants and discuss how to avoid or minimize such consequences. The webinar also covers a related topic—the immigration consequences of violent offenses, including in non-DV cases.

In Padilla v. Kentucky, the Supreme Court held that defense lawyers must affirmatively and correctly advise their clients about the immigration consequences of entering a plea and failure to do so constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel. NACDL, in collaboration with the Defending Immigrants Partnership, presents a training to discuss defense counsel’s duty under Padilla and related issues. Expert faculty analyze the Padilla decision, outline the steps defense counsel must take to provide effective assistance of counsel to their non-citizen clients, and provide essential instruction.

From Washington Defender Association’s Immigration Project

Informal Opinion

2008 — The Year in Immigration Enforcement

For noncitizen defendants convicted of a deportable offense, the punitive and rehabilitative undertones of the American justice system play out differently than they do for U.S. citizens. Instead of rehabilitation, they are exposed to the most punitive undertones of the penal code, even for many nonviolent offenses. Defendants may face life-changing consequences, such as being torn away from the lives they established in the United States. Counsel must take these special considerations into account when representing noncitizen clients.

This page contains materials and information on the intersection between immigration law and criminal defense. It also provides a great list of external resources for general immigration law and advocacy.

Indigent Defense Lory Diana Rosenberg

Must an attorney disclose to a state court that his or her client is charged under a false name where the prosecutor thinks that the client is an illegal alien but the client is actually a resident alien with a visa where the client has specifically requested that the attorney not disclose his or her true identity?

NACDL joins bar associations, legal services providers, policymakers, and judges in calling for an immediate and complete halt to the implementation of Directive Number 11072.1.

Nation's Criminal Defense Bar Strongly Urges American Congressional Leadership to Save 'Dreamers' -- Washington, DC (Sept. 6, 2017) – Yesterday, the Trump administration rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, effective in six months. To date, the program has provided legal protection to some 800,000 undocumented individuals brought to the United States as children.

Courts have long made it clear that agents can search the bags of people entering the country. For the past decade or so, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has applied that logic to digital devices. NACDL members are uniquely exposed to abuse in this context: digita