Cons of expungement

[sylvia-nam]

Overview

Are there instances when expungement should not be pursued?

Scenario 1: if you are an immigrant with a past conviction and try to expunge that record, what are the consequences when it comes to the immigration courts?

Research shows the incredible burdens faced by POC when navigating the legal system. For immigrants and those without documentation, the assumption is that these burdens grow more complex and require seeking legal counsel from those specializing in criminal law and immigration law.

For immigrants (green card holders without US citizenship), those who receive inadequate legal counsel will plead out in a criminal case in order to reduce their sentence. But doing so will trigger a deportation order from the immigration courts as seen in the numerous deportation cases in the Cambodian American, Korean American, Vietnamese American, Mexican American, Salvadoran American communities in the last 30+ years associated with the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.

Is there a parallel risk for immigrants who want to expunge old records? Are there other risks? What is the intersection of immigration law and expungement?

Scenario 2: will expunging your record prohibit you from suing the CA DoJ or joining a lawsuit later? This was a scenario raised during a separate, non-EA conversation that UXR Lead had with the former policy director at the Innocence Project.

Action Items

• Read through ILRC webpage on its work in the intersection of criminal law and immigration law
• Identify comparable organizations working in the intersection of immigration and criminal law
• Compile articles, reports, white papers
• Create folder in Google drive
• Share and discuss in UXR team meeting

Resources/Notes