quick reference chart and annotations for determining immigration ...

Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project,
Maricopa County Public Defender August 2012
A single conviction of possession of flunitrazepam is an aggravated felony, because a first such
conviction is punished as a felony under federal law.
Whenever possible, criminal defense counsel should plead to “use” or leave the record vague
between possession and use. Criminal defense counsel should reduce a possession conviction to a
misdemeanor wherever possible. This is because a felony may be treated as an aggravated felony in
immigration proceedings outside the Ninth Circuit, and in federal criminal prosecutions for illegal reentry.
“Use,” and a first misdemeanor possession, will not be so treated. See Note: Controlled
Substances, Part V.
Controlled Substance Conviction Causing Deportability and Inadmissibility. Yes. The
person will be inadmissible and will not be allowed to seek legal status in the United States. If the client
is a lawful permanent resident, the conviction will render him deportable but eligible for a waiver of
removal (immigration pardon) if the offense is not an aggravated felony and if he has had his lawful
permanent residence for at least five years and has been living in the United States for at least seven years
after any legal admission.
b. Use
Crime Involving Moral Turpitude: No, see possession.
Aggravated felony. No. Because it does not involve trafficking and there is no analogous
federal offense, even felony use, or use with a prior drug conviction, is not an aggravated felony.
Deportable and Inadmissible Drug Conviction. Yes.
Eliminating the conviction. A conviction for use of a narcotic or dangerous drug may NOT be
eliminated by state “rehabilitative relief” even if it occurred prior to July 14, 2011. See Nunez-Reyes v.
Holder, 646 F.3d 684, 695 (9th Cir. 2011) (en banc) (overruling Rice v. Holder, 597 F.3d 952 (9th Cir.
2010)).
A2. Possession for sale.
Crime Involving Moral Turpitude: Yes. Matter of Khourn, supra.
Aggravated Felony: Yes. Possession for sale involves trafficking.
Controlled substance conviction causing deportability and inadmissibility. Yes, if the record
shows a federally recognized controlled substance (although the BIA has held in an unpublished decision
that this is unnecessary since the Arizona legislature intended to mimic the federal schedule).
.
A3. Possess equipment or chemicals, or both, for the purpose of manufacture
See “Manufacture.”
A4. Manufacture
Arizona Criminal Chart with Explanatory Endnote – August 2012
95