Our client, “Peter”, had been a legal permanent resident of the United States for many years when he came into our office seeking assistance. He had traveled outside the US many times without any problems, but on his most recent trip, while attempting to enter the United States, he was stopped by immigration and his residency was terminated due to a criminal conviction from many years ago. Our client was placed into removal proceedings and faced being deported from the United States and being separated from his family.
After a thorough review of his situation our Massachusetts criminal and immigration attorneys realized that his criminal conviction was in violation of the individual’s statutory rights to receive “alien warnings” when tendering a guilty plea. The alien warnings ensure that the individual is accepting guilt with full knowledge of the consequences of the guilty charge. We quickly submitted a motion with the criminal court to vacate the conviction and reopen the criminal proceedings. The criminal court granted the motion to vacate and the criminal case was reopened. We represented Peter in the re-opened criminal case and it was successfully dismissed. We informed the immigration court that Peter’s conviction no longer existed and the Immigration Judge dismissed the charges of removal/deportation, allowing him to remain a legal permanent resident of the United States.