If you are not a U.S. citizen, a Texas criminal charge can do more than put you at risk of jail or a fine. The same case can affect your immigration status, and the immigration side is decided under federal law by federal authorities, not by the Collin County criminal court.
This is a general overview and is not legal advice.
One thing to say up front. Kent Starr handles criminal defense. He is not an immigration attorney, and this firm does not provide immigration representation. If your immigration status is in question, you should talk to an immigration attorney about that part of your situation. The point of this page is to help you understand why the two need to work together.
Two separate systems, one set of facts
A criminal case in Texas and an immigration case are handled by different courts and different rules. The state criminal case is about Texas law and what happens here in McKinney or elsewhere in Collin County. The immigration question is about federal law under the Immigration and Nationality Act, and it is decided by federal immigration authorities and the immigration courts.
What ties them together is the underlying facts. How a Texas charge is resolved, the offense it ends up classified as, and the words written into the court record can all matter later when a federal authority looks at your case. That is why a plea that looks fine on the criminal side alone can still cause real trouble on the immigration side.
Who can be affected
Non-citizens in a range of situations can face immigration consequences from a criminal case. That can include lawful permanent residents who hold a green card, people here on a visa, and people without lawful status. A green card does not make you immune. A long history in the United States does not make you immune either.
If you are a U.S. citizen, the immigration grounds discussed here do not apply to you. If you are not certain about your status or how it works, that is a question for an immigration attorney.
The federal categories that tend to matter
Federal immigration law sorts criminal conduct into categories. A few of these come up often. This is high-level, and how any of it applies to a real person depends on facts that an immigration attorney has to review.
- Crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMT). Certain offenses are treated under federal law as crimes involving moral turpitude. Depending on the timing and the number of offenses, a CIMT can make a non-citizen deportable under 8 U.S.C. 1227 or inadmissible under 8 U.S.C. 1182. Whether a given Texas offense counts as a CIMT is a federal-law question.
- Aggravated felonies. The term “aggravated felony” is defined in 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43). It is a federal label, and it does not match the Texas felony grades. An offense that is not even a felony under Texas law can still fall inside this federal definition. A conviction in this category carries some of the harshest immigration consequences and cuts off most forms of relief.
- Controlled-substance offenses. Federal law treats most drug offenses as grounds for removal or inadmissibility. The reach here is broad, and the federal drug schedules do not line up perfectly with Texas drug law.
These are categories, not a checklist. Do not try to slot your own case into one of them on your own. That analysis is exactly what an immigration attorney is for.
A deferred adjudication can still count as a “conviction”
This is the part that surprises people the most. In Texas, deferred adjudication can keep a final conviction off your state record if you finish the terms. For immigration purposes, federal law uses its own definition of “conviction.”
Under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(48), there can be a “conviction” for immigration purposes when a person pleads guilty or no contest, or admits enough facts to support a finding of guilt, and the court imposes some form of penalty or restraint. That can describe a deferred adjudication. So an outcome that protects your Texas record may still be treated as a conviction by federal immigration authorities. A guilty plea, a no-contest plea, and certain other resolutions can all carry weight on the immigration side even when they feel like a good deal on the criminal side.
This is one more reason to have an immigration attorney looking at the case before any plea is entered.
Padilla v. Kentucky and why your lawyer has to flag this
In Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356 (2010), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Sixth Amendment requires a criminal defense lawyer to advise a non-citizen client about the risk that a guilty plea may carry immigration consequences. So a defense lawyer is supposed to raise this issue with you, not let you walk into a plea blind.
There is a limit to what that means in practice. The duty to flag the risk is not the same as giving you full immigration advice or predicting the federal outcome of your case. For that, you need an immigration attorney. Kent’s role on the criminal side is to identify that immigration is in play and to keep working with your immigration counsel as the case moves.
How the criminal defense and immigration sides work together
When immigration status is on the line, the smartest approach is to treat the two cases as connected from the start. On the criminal defense side, that can mean looking hard at the charge, the available evidence, and the way any resolution is structured, with the immigration risk kept in view the whole time. On the immigration side, your immigration attorney reviews how a particular outcome could affect your status and what options may exist.
Kent Starr focuses on the Texas criminal defense and coordinates with immigration counsel when a client has one. He does not give immigration advice or handle the immigration matter. If you do not already have an immigration attorney, getting one early is one of the most important steps you can take.
For a closer look at how this plays out in a specific kind of case, see our post on how solicitation of prostitution can affect immigration status in Texas. For the broader picture of how Kent handles criminal cases here, see Collin County criminal defense.
The short version
A Texas criminal charge and your immigration status are governed by two different sets of rules. A plea or a deferred adjudication that looks fine on the criminal side can still affect your status under federal law, and that federal question is decided by federal authorities, not the Texas court. None of the categories above should be applied to your own case without an immigration attorney looking at the facts.
If you are not a citizen and you are facing a criminal charge in Collin County, call (214) 982-1408 for a free, confidential consultation, and plan on talking to an immigration attorney as well.
This article is general legal information about Texas law and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about a specific situation, consult a licensed attorney.