If I have a J1 visa but got caught shoplifting and got a misdemeanor citation, will this cause my deportation?

Grounds of deportation mostly consist of criminal convictions of certain criminal offenses that fit within a conviction-based ground of deportation. If a foreign national is convicted of a deportable crime committed after he or she has been legally admitted into the United States, the defendant is deportable, and the immigration judge will order removal unless the person qualifies for, and actually receives, a waiver of the ground of removal.

Conviction-Based Grounds of Deportation

Twenty-four of the 52 different grounds of deportation are triggered by a specified criminal conviction.[1]  If there is no conviction, as defined under immigration law, these deportation grounds cannot be established and a noncitizen cannot be removed under any of these conviction-based grounds of deportation.  For a checklist and discussion of the various dispositions in criminal cases that do not constitute convictions for purposes of deportation, see § 2.4, and Chapter 4.

The most common conviction-based grounds of deportation are the following:

• Aggravated felony convictions (some 35 different offenses and categories of offenses listed at INA § 101(a)(43),

• Controlled substances convictions

• Firearms convictions

• Convictions of crimes of moral turpitude

• Domestic violence convictions

There are many more individual offenses and smaller, rarer categories of offenses for which convictions trigger deportation.

Conviction-Based Grounds of Deportation

NOTE: The 20 conviction-based grounds of deportation are listed here organized into criminal, immigration, and security grounds and alphabetically within each category.  The balance of the total of 52 grounds of deportation are omitted from this list since they do not require a conviction to trigger them, but may be found in Safe Havens which contains the complete list of all 52 grounds of deportation.

Criminal Grounds

• Aggravated felony conviction.

• Crime of moral turpitude – one conviction.

• Crime of moral turpitude – multiple convictions.

• Controlled substances conviction.

• Domestic violence/stalking/child abuse convictions.

• Firearms or destructive device conviction.

Immigration Grounds

• Border crossing conviction.

• Fraud – registration document fraud conviction.

• Fraud – visa fraud conviction.

• High speed flight from immigration checkpoint conviction.

• Smuggling – importation for immoral purpose conviction.

Security Grounds

• Espionage conviction.

• Foreign Agent Registration Act conviction.

• Foreign espionage trainee registration conviction.

• Neutrality law conviction.

• Sabotage conviction.

• Selective Service conviction.

• Threats against the President and successors conviction.

• Trading with the enemy conviction.

• Treason or sedition conviction.