LEGAL IMMIGRANTS CAN FIGHT DRUG-RELATED DEPORTATIONS

High Court Rules State Crimes Not Grounds for Automatic Expulsion

Legal immigrants convicted of possessing drugs aren't subject to
mandatory deportation, even if their convictions are felonies under
state law, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

"The court is saying people with drug-possession offenses who are now
contributing members of society should have a chance to stay in the
country, based on their rehabilitation," said Jayashri Srikantiah, a
Stanford law professor who filed arguments in the case on behalf of
national civil rights and immigrants' rights groups.

Immigration lawyers said the 8-1 ruling could affect thousands of
legal immigrants around the nation who were facing automatic
deportation for drug crimes classified as a felonies in their states.

Under the federal government's interpretation of the law, people
convicted of drug felonies also were ineligible for political asylum
in the United States and faced substantially longer prison sentences
for illegal entry if they return without permission after deportation.

Defendants still can be deported after completing their drug
sentences, but the ruling allows them to argue to an immigration
judge that they should be allowed to remain because of their overall
record, family support or other circumstances. Srikantiah said
immigrants win their cases in court more often than not when allowed
to present those arguments.

Numerous longtime legal residents have faced automatic deportation
because of a drug-possession conviction, according to Srikantiah's
brief. There was a decorated Navy veteran who briefly used drugs
after his discharge; a 23-year resident with no criminal record who
took her lawyer's advice to admit possessing someone else's
marijuana; a Ukrainian Jew who fled religious persecution in 1993,
was convicted of possessing heroin in 2000, then became a college
honor student and drug rehabilitation counselor.

The Supreme Court, in an opinion by Justice David Souter, said
Congress made deportation automatic for crimes classified as
"aggravated felonies," including drug trafficking, but did not intend
the same penalty for federal misdemeanor crimes.

The government's argument -- that any state drug felony requires
deportation -- "would often turn simple possession into trafficking,
just what the English language tells us not to expect," Souter said.
He said the government's position also would allow varying state laws
to control federal sentencing and deportation decisions.

In dissent, Justice Clarence Thomas said the law required deportation
for felony drug crimes and did not distinguish between state and
federal convictions.

The case has no impact on deportations in California, because the
Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which oversees
federal cases in nine Western states, ruled in 2004 that immigrants
convicted of felonies in their states would not be automatically
deported if their crimes were misdemeanors under federal law. Other
appeals courts have issued varying rulings on the issue that the
Supreme Court resolved Tuesday.

Nationwide, according to government figures, about 7,300 legal
immigrants were deported for drug crimes in 2005, said Robert Long,
lawyer for the South Dakota man whose case was before the court. He
said it wasn't known how many of them were convicted in state courts,
but he agreed that the ruling would give thousands a chance to fight
deportation.

Under federal law, most drug-possession charges are misdemeanors
punishable by a year in jail or less -- with the notable exception of
possession of crack cocaine, which is a felony under federal law and
thus grounds for mandatory deportation. A number of states, including
California, classify possession of drugs other than crack cocaine as felonies.

Tuesday's decision does not affect illegal immigrants, who can be
deported simply by virtue of being in the United States. It also
doesn't affect naturalized citizens, who are treated like all other
citizens and cannot be deported for criminal convictions.

Long's client, Jose Antonio Lopez, became a legal permanent resident
of the United States in 1990, has two U.S. citizen children and most
recently ran a grocery store in Sioux Falls. He pleaded guilty in
1997 to a state felony charge of aiding in someone else's possession
of cocaine and was sentenced to five years in prison.

He was released after 15 months but was then found to be subject to
mandatory deportation and was returned to Mexico in January. The
ruling allows him to come back to the United States and challenge his
deportation before an immigration judge.

The case is Lopez vs. Gonzales, 05-547.