Can Domestic Violence Affect Green Card?
By 2015, there were over 558,170 immigrants in Nevada taking 19.3% of the State’s entire population. Now that it is 2019, expect the numbers to have increased.
Some of the top immigrants in Nevada are people from Mexico, the Philippines, El Salvador, China, and Cuba and most of them are actually illegally staying. As of 2017, there are at least 170,000 unauthorized immigrants in the State. As in the United States law, you need a green card to prove your American citizenship and without it, you could be deported back to your country. A green card can also be invalidated if you have committed certain crimes like domestic violence in Las Vegas and in the surrounding areas in Nevada. The federal government is stringent when it comes to domestic violence charges and certain elements in the crime could lose you your good Las Vegas immigration status.
Here is an article about domestic violence and immigration for you to learn more.
What does the United States Code say about immigrant violations?
It is not Nevada that deports a person back, it is the federal government. If there is a domestic violence crime, the State of Nevada handles the criminal charges and the federal government is there to decide if the crime needs a punishment of deportation for its severity.
The U.S. Code has a dedicated section about domestic violence and immigration laws. According to it, anyone who is convicted of domestic violence may be deported if the offense has instances of stalking, child abuse, child neglect, and child abandonment. Violation of protection orders that are rooted in domestic violence is also deportable under the U.S. Code.
Now, one of the conditions of the grant of your green card is that you will not be convicted of any crime. If you violate this, you will be charged with moral turpitude and could also risk your stay in the country. Aggravated felonies you did in Nevada that results from domestic violence such as murder, rape, theft, fraud, and more are also deportable.
In Nevada, domestic violence is classified as the physical and mental battery and assault done to a person in a domestic setting. If you have inflicted these things to your children and your spouse as an immigrant, expect the federal government to evaluate your immigration status.
So, if your question is “Can domestic violence affect green card?” Yes, it certainly will and in a very costly manner.
What are the defenses to use against deportation caused by domestic violence?
Apart from the criminal charges sentenced by the State, domestic violence and immigration charges meshed together is also a daunting thing to face. As we have stated before, if you are an immigrant who committed or falsely accused of domestic violence, there only are some particular situations that could get you deported out of the country so you could also argue that the crime you were being pressed on is not enough to deport you.
Anyway, with the aid of an attorney, some of the defenses and actions that you can lay down in court are:
- No domestic violence occurred
- Accusations were made out of spite or due to racism
- Motions to Terminate
- Motions to Suppress
- Not enough evidence to support the claim of the plaintiff
- Voluntary departure – this is a legal remedy where you leave the country on your own terms and not under orders which will only hamper your chances of re-entering+
Domestic violence and immigration are connected more than you think. Since it is a crime that harms people, the laws of Nevada and the federal government are harsh especially for immigrants who are seeking to be one of the people he or she may have abused.
Perpetrating domestic violence could lead to the collapse of the life you may have been building in Nevada or elsewhere in the United States. To avoid this, have the help of a criminal defense attorney in Las Vegas to prove that the domestic violence charges that could deport you was nothing more but false allegations.
