How Crime & Criminal Activities Affect Your Status (Ⅱ)
Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude
Immigration law has used the term oral turpitude in its criminal grounds for exclusion since 1891. What constitutes moral turpitude for criminal purposes has been determined by judicial and administrative case law rather than a statutory definition. In general, if a crime manifests an element of baseness or depravity under current societal mores, if it evidences an evil or predatory intent, it involves moral turpitude. Thus, certain crimes such as murder, rape, blackmail, and fraud are considered crimes involving moral turpitude, whereas crimes such as simple assault have not been considered to involve moral turpitude.
Aggravated Felonies
In 1988 Congress enacted the first aggravated felony statute. Since then, Congress has designated specific offenses as aggravated felonies for immigration purposes, and has made removal of aliens convicted of such crimes a priority through streamlined procedures and ineligibility for various types of relief. Aggravated felonies were initially listed in the INA pursuant to the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 as part of a broad effort to combat narcotics trafficking. The only crimes designated in the 1988 Act were murder, drug trafficking, and illegal trafficking in firearms or destructive devices. Subsequent legislation has expanded the definition of aggravated felony a number of times, to include certain categories of crimes and many specific crimes.
INA Section 101(a)(43) defines aggravated felony through the listing of a number of criminal categories and specified crimes. The broadest categories of aggravated felonies under the INA are:
1. Any crime of violence (including crimes involving a substantial risk of the use of physical force) for which the term of imprisonment is at least one year;