Reading Room Document

Treatment of Expunged State Convictions Under the Immigration and Nationality Act

Under the definition of "conviction" contained in the Immigration and Nationality Act, for a conviction not involving a first-time simple possession of narcotics, an alien remains convicted, and thus removable under the Act, notwithstanding a subsequent state action to vacate or set aside the conviction that does not reflect a judgment about the merits of the underlying adjudication of guilt. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/op-olc-v029-p0001pdf/download.

January 18, 2005