The BIA Holds Single Offence Rule Under INA 237 May Include More Than One Crime
Author: New York Immigration Lawyer Alena Shautsova
On October 23, 2012, the Board Of Immigration Appeals (the "BIA") issued a decision that may help many immigrants with criminal convictions. The board held that if multiple convictions were based on a single incident, the "e;single offence"e; rule under INA deportation provisions of section 237 may still apply.
The BIA held:
For purposes of section 237(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(B)(i) (2006), the phrase "a single offense involving possession for one’s own use of thirty grams or less of marijuana" calls for a circumstance-specific inquiry into the character of the alien’s unlawful conduct on a single occasion, not a categorical inquiry into the elements of a single statutory crime.
The full text of the decision can be viewed here