Consequences of JD for Immigration

Possible Negative Consequences

Family court JD adjudications are NOT defined as convictions for immigration purposes, but the impact on immigration can be the same. They can:

Negatively impact a child’s ability to obtain and maintain lawful immigration status necessary to remain in the U.S.
Be sources of information used to support “conduct-based” grounds for inadmissibility or deportability.
Be used as negative discretionary factors in immigration applications for immigration relief & benefits.

Under federal immigration laws, individuals can be barred from immigration relief, permanently removed from the U.S. and prevented from re-entering the country on the grounds of one’s past conduct.
Juvenile Delinquency adjudications can provide conduct-related information to support permanent removal from the U.S.
Conduct-based grounds include:
- Prostitution; drug abuse and addiction, drug trafficking; behavior showing a mental condition that poses a threat to self or others; false claim to US citizenship; and violations of Family Court orders of protection.

Even without a finding by the Court, if a juvenile makes an admission to certain offenses, s/he can be denied status or be prevented from reentering the United States.
The federal government treats “admissions” to underlying criminal conduct the same as criminal convictions when determining eligibility for:
- Certain immigration benefits (i.e. citizenship, green card, etc.)
- Certain forms of relief from deportation
- Reentry to the United States after travel abroad

Even when conduct is not a statutory “conduct-based ground,” delinquencies can be used as negative discretionary factors in immigration applications (i.e. green cards, citizenship, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
Immigration applicants have to provide extensive information and can be asked to provide records related to juvenile delinquencies.