Los Angeles Immigration Law Blog

Under current immigration laws, if a person commits an aggravated felony in Los Angeles, he or she will be deported. Pretty clear-cut, right? Not entirely. What constitutes an aggravated felony exactly has been called into question, especially in state drug convictions. Currently, a drug offense is categorized into an aggravated felony if the consequences of that offense include more than a year in prison. However, there is an exception for drug offenses involving distributing small amounts of marijuana without being paid or remunerated for it.

This exception was the center of a case that was heard by the Supreme Court recently. A man was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute after he was stopped by police officers who found 1.3 grams of the drug in his possession. After he plead guilty to the felony charge, federal authorities wanted to deport him because they felt his criminal conviction showed that he had committed an aggravated felony.

Imagine being arrested in a foreign country without the means to hire a lawyer to represent you in court and not being allowed to have one appointed to you by the court. Without knowing how the country’s legal system operates, you would be at a distinct disadvantage in trying to represent yourself. Now imagine a person who is mentally disabled trying to do the same thing.

This is the situation several immigrants in the Los Angeles area have been forced to face when they have found themselves in deportation proceedings. One in particular is a 32-year-old man who has an IQ somewhere in the range of 35-55. He came to the United States when he was 18-years-old and applied for a green card in 2001 through his brother who is a citizen. His request was never approved, and five years ago he faced deportation proceedings. Because he couldn’t afford an attorney, his case could not proceed. He was sent to a federal detention center where he stayed for five years.

In virtually every piece of legislation that is presented to Congress, there is both good and bad. A new immigration bill is no exception.

In an effort to reform immigration, four Democrats and four Republicans have worked together to come up with a bill that they think will help the problem. The good news is that the proposed law would allow a majority of immigrants who are currently living in the Los Angeles area without papers to obtain legal status. If certain requirements are satisfied, immigrants living in the United States, estimated to be 11 million in number, would also be able to apply for U.S. citizenship in the future.

It is a common misconception that immigrants living in Los Angeles who do not have their papers are happily living in the shadows. Many assume that given the chance, these people would not want citizenship and the responsibilities that come along with it.

According to a recent poll conducted by Latino Decisions, nothing could be further from the truth. The poll was done to access immigrants' familial ties to the country through family-based immigration and find out what percentage of them would apply for citizenship if they had the opportunity.