Immigrants are often told that deportation can happen after criminal offenses. But that does not mean that every single criminal offense is viewed the same way. Much of the time, deportation is a risk for those who are accused of a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT).
But what exactly is moral turpitude, and how does a criminal act reach that qualification? United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) admits that there is no statutory definition that can be applied evenly to all cases. Instead, they rely on pre-existing case law to decide if a crime would qualify or not.
How courts define moral turpitude
What courts generally find is that something is a crime of moral turpitude if it is shocking, vile, depraved or contrary to the general rules of morality accepted by society. This is something of a nebulous definition that could be applied differently to different situations, but generally it means that more serious crimes have a greater chance of deportation.
For instance, someone may be accused of underage drinking. This is illegal, but it is also relatively common. If no one was injured, it may not be considered a crime of moral turpitude, but a minor youthful mistake.
Conversely, if that same person became intoxicated, got behind the wheel and caused a fatal car accident, then it may be viewed much differently. Now their crime has caused significant injury and led to the death of another individual, so it is much more shocking and serious.
Since these things are loosely defined, they can be a point of contention in immigration cases. Immigrants must know exactly what legal options they have.