These California Laws May Help Immigrants Facing Threat of Deportation

Maria has been a legal permanent resident of the United States for decades. She was born in Mexico but has lived in Contra Costa County since she was 6 years old. She's a grandmother now. California is the only home she knows, but now she's afraid she could be deported.

Back in 2006, Maria was convicted of drug possession. What she didn't realize is that a criminal conviction -- even for a nonviolent offense -- can make a legal immigrant deportable, and the consequences can come many years later. (That's why she has asked that we not use her last name.)

“I didn’t know that me making a mistake was going to be in any way handled differently from a U.S. citizen,” Maria said recently.

In fact, her conviction puts her among those prioritized for removal from the country by President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on immigration. Many legal California residents as well as undocumented immigrants may face deportation under the order. While the total number of immigrants with criminal histories in California isn’t tracked, the state is home to more than 10 million immigrants.

"Anybody in the United States who is not a citizen can face stark, stark consequences for even seemingly minor criminal contact," said Ali Saidi, an immigration attorney with the Contra Costa County Public Defender's Office.

Saidi recently met with elected officials, service providers and criminal justice advocates in the county who work to reintegrate people coming out of prisons and local jails. Saidi explained how recent state laws aimed at helping rehabilitated felons get their records cleared might be of particular help to immigrants targeted by the new executive order.

Saidi has also been going out into the community to talk with immigrants at their homes about the risk of deportation and what kinds of legal remedies are available to them.

Among the state laws that can help people clean up their records:

• Proposition 47: Lower-level nonviolent felonies might be eligible for reclassification to misdemeanors.
• California Penal Code 1203.43: Prevents unintended immigration consequences for individuals who completed terms of their Deferred Entry of Judgment.
• California Penal Code 1473.7: Allows people to legally vacate invalid convictions.

Maria, for example, might be able to get her conviction reclassified under Proposition 47, which voters passed in 2014. She said she is not the same person she was 10 years ago.

“I’m not trying to make excuses for myself, but my life from 2006 has completely changed,” she said. Maria works for the county government now, and helps other people who are struggling with addiction.

Many immigrants in California are now looking for ways get a clean slate. But it can be confusing and costly. Only eight out of 58 counties currently have immigration lawyers in the public defender’s office. A new bill, AB 3, aims to fix that. It would fund immigration training for public defenders across the state.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.