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Deportation is Different: Noncitizens and Ineffective Assistance of Counsel |
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Lea McDermid |
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| Noncitizens reasonably rely on defense counsel to inform them of im-migration consequences of a guilty plea. Yet the majority of state and fed-eral courts has denied relief to noncitizens who claim that their attorneys were ineffective by failing to inform them of the risk of deportation. This Comment critiques the case law on such claims and describes how the 1996 changes in the immigration laws heighten the certainty and severity of deportation based on a conviction. It argues that raising the standard on what constitutes effective representation of noncitizens is timely and is consistent with Supreme Court precedent and the American Bar Associa-tion standards. This Comment concludes that defense counsel should have an affirmative duty to investigate actual immigration consequences, advise noncitizen clients of those consequences, and seek to avoid or mitigate those consequences. Finally, this Comment provides examples of how de-fense attorneys can avoid dispositions that will trigger removal proceed-ings. | |
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Copyright
© 1998 by California Law Review, Inc. |
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