Can a Criminal Case in Macon Affect My Immigration Status?

Understanding the Risks and Legal Options

Facing criminal charges is a challenge for anyone, but for immigrants, a pending case can carry unsettling additional risks, including threats to immigration status. Criminal charges can potentially trigger deportation proceedings, lead to an ICE hold, or even result in removal from the United States. If you’re navigating a criminal case as an immigrant in Macon, GA, understanding the intersections of criminal defense and immigration law is essential to protecting your future.

Our criminal defense attorneys in Macon explain how criminal charges may impact your immigration status, the scenarios that could lead to deportation, and how having skilled legal representation can make a huge difference.

How Criminal Charges Affect Immigration Status

The connection between criminal law and immigration law is complex. Even minor criminal charges can create significant challenges for immigrants, especially those without U.S. citizenship or those with lawful permanent resident (green card) status.

Crimes of Moral Turpitude (CMTs)

A conviction for a crime of moral turpitude can make an immigrant inadmissible to the U.S. or deportable. These are offenses that courts have deemed to harm societal values, such as theft, fraud, or certain forms of assault.

Even one conviction for a CMT can impact your immigration status, particularly if it occurs within a specific time frame after entering the U.S.

Aggravated Felonies

Under immigration law, "aggravated felony" is a broad term. It can include crimes like drug trafficking, violent felonies, or even some misdemeanors under state law. A conviction for an aggravated felony not only results in deportation but also eliminates eligibility for most forms of legal relief in immigration proceedings.

Drug Offenses

Drug-related convictions, including minor charges like simple possession, are heavily scrutinized under immigration law. Such crimes can make you inadmissible, lead to removal proceedings, and disqualify you from applying for certain immigration benefits.

ICE Holds

If you are arrested and charged with a crime, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) may place a hold on you while your criminal case is pending. This prevents your release from local custody and increases the risk of expedited removal proceedings, regardless of how your criminal case is resolved.

Scenarios That Can Trigger Deportation

It’s important to understand specific situations in which criminal charges can escalate to deportation or removal.

These scenarios include but are not limited to:

• Entry Into a Plea Agreement – Pleading guilty to certain charges may resolve your criminal case, but could simultaneously make you deportable, even if the punishment seems minor.
• Conviction During Residency Application – Applying for residency while facing unresolved criminal charges or convictions may result in rejection or removal orders.
• Release From Criminal Custody – If ICE initiates an immigration detainer (ICE hold), you may be transferred into their custody upon release from your criminal case, even without a conviction.

Each case is unique, and the outcome depends on various legal and personal factors.

3 Legal Options to Protect Your Immigration Status

The good news is that being charged with a crime doesn’t automatically mean you’ll face deportation. Partnering with experienced attorneys who understand the intersections between criminal defense and immigration law offers critical benefits. Here’s how legal representation can help protect your immigration status in Macon, GA.

1. Strategic Criminal Defense

A criminal defense attorney experienced in immigration-related cases can work to get charges reduced or dismissed, negotiate plea deals that avoid immigration consequences, or defend you in court. They protect you from the harshest outcomes within the criminal justice system.

2. Immigration Advocacy

An immigration attorney can provide counsel on how a criminal case affects your visa, green card, or asylum application. They may also help present evidence that mitigates the impact of your charges or build a legal argument to fight removal proceedings.

3. Comprehensive Case Management

When working with a firm like Deadwyler-Heuman Law Firm, LLC, which handles criminal defense and immigration law, you gain a unified strategy. Our attorneys collaborate to ensure that decisions made in your criminal case prioritize the protection of your immigration status.

The Role of ICE Holds in Criminal Cases

An ICE hold complicates matters further. If you face an ICE hold while navigating a criminal charge in Macon, GA, the hold allows immigration authorities to detain you even after posting bond or serving your time. While criminal defense attorneys and immigration lawyers cannot “lift” an ICE hold, our lawyers at Deadwyler-Heuman Law Firm, LLC, can take steps to advocate for your rights, ensure fair treatment, and pursue relief options in parallel with criminal proceedings.

Deadwyler-Heuman Law Firm, LLC Offers Comprehensive Support

At Deadwyler-Heuman Law Firm, LLC, we are well-versed in criminal defense and immigration law and offer targeted representation for clients in Macon, GA. If you face criminal charges, ICE holds, or immigration-related complications, our team is here to provide compassionate and aggressive legal support.