Law Career Development Graduate Fellow
Crimmigration Or Crimmigation - Ethical Obligations to Know What It Is
Crimmigration is a word coined by legal scholars, and it describes the commingled consequences and practice demands of two important areas of law: criminal and immigration. Crimmigration is more than just knowing these two distinct practices, it is understanding "'...how they intersect. That is a crimmigation lawyer.'" (Steven Crighton, "'Crimmigation' Law Practice Niche on the Rise," San Francisco Daily Journal, Vol. 121 No. 180, published 09/17/15, quoting Cesar C.G. Hernandez, a law professor at University of Denver Sturm Collge of Law.")**
Crimmigration may also be described as "crimmigation" (as seen in Mr. Crighton's article), but from my findings, the former is the most commonly used term.
The Significance Of Crimmigration
In 1986, the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) removed 1,978 immigrants for criminal convictions. That number rose and kept rising over the past decades. INS removed 36,909 immigrants in 1996 and removed 240,000 immigrants in 2013 for the same reasons. (Crighton.) During the Obama Administration, where the President has vowed "to deport only criminals and repeat immigration violators," the numbers grew at a still startling rate. According to Migration Policy Institute,
95 percent of the immigrants deported from 2009 to 2013 met Mr. Obama’s stated national security priorities for deportations, meaning only about 77,000 of the 1.6 million illegal immigrants removed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over the last five years were rank-and-file border-crossers with clean records.
Thus, the impact that a criminal conviction has on an immigrant is significant and it affects nearly every single immigrant charged with a crime.
