In Rodriguez v. United States, the Second Circuit remanded the case to the district court to hear evidence on a defendant’s application to vacate her guilty plea on the grounds that she would not have entered into the plea if her counsel had properly advised her as to its immigration consequences.
Most defense attorneys know that green card holders (legal residents) and other non-U.S. citizens who are legally in this country are subject to deportation if they are convicted of certain crimes. But most defense attorneys, and I include myself, do not know that naturalized citizens are at risk of being deported if part of their illicit conduct was committed beforethey became naturalized citizens. That is because naturalized citizens, before becoming naturalized, must swear that they have never committed an illegal act against the U.S. So if a defense attorney has a case like this and wants to enter into a plea agreement, she must make sure the basis does not include any pre-naturalization illicit conduct.
Special thanks to Harry Sandick for this article.