Firearms Offenses and Immigration
Firearms and destructive-device offenses can make a person deportable and may also fall into an aggravated-felony category, depending on the statute.
Firearms deportability
INA § 237(a)(2)(C) addresses certain convictions involving purchasing, selling, offering for sale, exchanging, using, owning, possessing, or carrying a firearm or destructive device in violation of law, as well as attempts and conspiracies. Because federal and state definitions can differ, the statutory definition of “firearm” and the record of conviction matter.
Other overlapping consequences
Certain firearms trafficking and specifically enumerated federal firearms offenses may qualify as aggravated felonies under INA § 101(a)(43). Firearms cases may also intersect with the immigration definition of crime of violence, criminal inadmissibility, sentencing, and post-conviction relief.
Review of convictions
The firm evaluates categorical arguments, statutory breadth, divisibility, charging records, sentences, and options for relief. A state conviction is not automatically a firearms ground merely because a police narrative mentions a weapon.
Related topics
- Criminal Convictions and Immigration Consequences
- Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude (CIMTs)
- Aggravated Felonies in Immigration Law
- Drug Crimes and Immigration Consequences
- Domestic Violence, Child Abuse, and Immigration
- Other Criminal Grounds of Inadmissibility
- Criminal Inadmissibility Waivers and Post-Conviction Options
Legal references
- 8 U.S.C. § 1182 — criminal inadmissibility
- 8 U.S.C. § 1227 — criminal deportability
- 8 U.S.C. § 1101 — definitions and aggravated felonies
- U.S. Department of State — criminal ineligibilities
General legal information; not a prediction of eligibility or outcome. Criminal and immigration law change, and individual analysis is essential.