Immigrants & Immigration

If you are not a U.S. citizen, any contact you have with police or other law enforcement may affect your immigration status. Being arrested or involved in criminal activity can negatively impact your eligibility for a visa, permanent residence, or citizenship. This applies whether the incident happens in the United States, another country, or your home country.

If you are charged with a crime, you can:

• Plead not guilty and go to trial When the issues of a case are heard in court and decided by a judge or jury to let the judge or a jury decide your case based on the evidence Anything used to show that something is true
• Plead guilty
• Agree to a guilty plea A person's formal answer of guilty, not guilty, or no contest to the charges against them to a less serious crime

If you are found guilty of a crime, or in some cases, admit to actions that meet the essential elements of a crime, the results can be serious. This includes attempted criminal activity and conspiracy. For example, you could:

• Have your application for a visa, permanent residence, or citizenship denied
• Be deported
• Be put in detention while the deportation case is going on, or
• Be unable to return to the U.S. for years or, in some cases, be permanently barred from returning

This can be true even in the following cases:

• You are found guilty of a misdemeanor A lesser crime punishable by a fine or confinement in county jail for up to one year. ;
• You are given probation A criminal court sentence which releases a person into the community. They are under supervision and given certain conditions. or court supervision;
• The conviction When someone is declared guilty of a crime by a court is very old; 
• You have lived and worked in the U.S. for many years; or 
• All of your family lives here.

Note: Sometimes, lawyers tell their clients that if they plead guilty and are sentenced only to court supervision, it does not count as a conviction. This might be true in some situations, but it is not true under immigration law. For immigration purposes, a conviction exists where:

1. There has been a formal judgment An official decision by a court that ends the dispute between parties of guilt entered by a court, or 
2. Adjudication A formal court decision has been withheld, but the following elements are present: 
   • A judge or jury has found you guilty, or you entered a plea of guilty or ‘no contest’, or you have admitted sufficient facts to warrant a finding of guilt, and
   • The judge has ordered some form of punishment, penalty, or restraint on your liberty.

You should ask your criminal lawyer Someone who represents clients in courts or who gives legal advice what might happen to your immigration status if you are found guilty. You may need to talk to an immigration lawyer as well as a criminal lawyer.

Learn more about Fighting criminal convictions and sentences. 

Juvenile offenses

Juvenile For misdemeanor offenses, a defendant is considered a juvenile if the offense occurred when they were 17 or younger.For felony offenses, a defendant is considered a juvenile if the offense occurred when they were 16 or younger. offenses are considered differently from adult Any person 18 years old or over offenses, but you still must disclose them to the government when you apply for an immigration benefit. You should get copies of all juvenile court Any court that has jurisdiction over matters involving juveniles. records for your immigration lawyer to review.

If you commit a crime when you are under the age of 18, you might be charged as a juvenile offender in juvenile court. In that case, if the court finds you guilty, you will have an adjudication, or judgment of guilt, rather than a conviction. Under immigration law, your adjudication will not be considered a conviction, and so generally an adjudication would not lead to inadmissibility or deportation. However, some juvenile offenses are considered “bad acts” and can trigger a penalty. “Bad acts” may include drug trafficking, drug abuse or addiction, prostitution, behavior demonstrating a threat to self or others, violations of protective orders, and false claims to U.S. citizenship.

Blended sentence

If you are adjudicated, or judged, guilty in juvenile court in Illinois, you can sometimes get a blended sentence. A blended sentence means that you are given probation, but if you don’t follow your probation, you can be put in jail as an adult offender. Immigration courts might consider a blended sentence like this to be a criminal conviction, even if you never violate your probation.

Help for noncitizens facing deportation in Cook County

The Immigration Division of the Cook County Public Defender's Office helps noncitizens in Cook County avoid deportation. They assist public defenders with cases involving immigration issues and represent clients in immigration court. If you or a loved one needs help, email [email protected] or call 312-603-0636.