Articles Posted in Immigration and Crime

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Massachusetts ruling issued May 7, 2026 has changed what a noncitizen can do about an old drug admission that is now driving a deportation case. In Commonwealth v. Chhieng, the Supreme Judicial Court held that a District Court judge’s immigration warning was legally inadequate because it mentioned only a “conviction” and said nothing about the immigration consequences of an admission to sufficient facts. For a lawful permanent resident who closed out a Boston-area drug charge years ago with a continuance without a finding, that gap can mean the difference between keeping the right to live here and facing removal.

Under M.G.L. c. 278, § 29D, a person who never received the proper warning can move to withdraw a plea or admission at any time, even years later, once the federal government takes a step toward removal. The Law Office of Patrick J. Murphy handles Boston drug crime cases throughout Suffolk County, and this decision gives the defense a concrete tool for clients whose old District Court dispositions have come back to threaten their status.

What an Admission to Sufficient Facts Really Does to a Noncitizen

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The federal government says that it has made it a priority to protect the communities it serves by administering the Secure Communities program which they argued was a simple and common sense way to carry out the goal and priorities of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by removing criminal aliens that pose a threat to public safety of the United States.

When it comes to enforcing our nation’s immigration laws, U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and state and local law enforcement share information that they say helps locate and identify only those people that are criminal aliens. Our state and local law enforcement officials in Massachusetts had been cooperating with these agencies by sharing certain identifying information and fingerprints to locate immigrant aliens charged with crimes in Massachusetts. When immigration detainers have been lodged against alleged criminal aliens in our courts the government can hold people in jail and start deportation proceedings against them.

Yesterday, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced in a letter to federal officials that he will consider withdrawing the Boston Police from the Secure Communities program because ICE has been heavy-handed and has not limited its deportations to only those immigrants involved in serious crimes like rape and murder.

The Obama administration has already heard so much criticism from members of his Democratic base and others in Congress that it has considered changing or altering the way the program is administered. The outrage stems from the fact that immigrant aliens, many of whom are hard working and peacefully living in this country, are being detained and deported at an alarming rate. Many have only had a minor brush with the law but are being needlessly detained by the government. Also, victims of domestic abuse, witnesses, and people who were arrested but not convicted are being negatively affected by the Secure Communities Program.
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