CONTACT INFORMATION:
Law Office of Lauren A. Levy, P.A.
Contact: Lauren A. Levy, Esq.
Phone: (305) 389-4262
Email: lauren@laurenlevylaw.com
RELEASE DATE:
06/10/2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Post-Trump Felony Conviction, Palm Beach County Immigration Attorney Proposes Bill to Remove Bar to Citizenship for Reformed Felons
[Boynton Beach, Fla.] – Donald J. Trump became the first former president in U.S. history to be found guilty of a felony. On Thursday, May 30, 2024, a New York jury convicted Trump of 34 charges that involved attempting to influence the 2016 election by paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and falsifying business records to cover up the payments.
“Many Americans are dismayed to learn that under the U.S. Constitution, a convicted felon can still run for and be elected to the presidency,” Boynton Beach attorney
Lauren Levy said. “For millions of people in our country, a felony conviction potentially bars them from voting, applying for certain jobs, being able to rent an apartment, or even applying for U.S. citizenship. So, considering the fact that you can be a felon and still be hired for the highest position of power and influence in the country and, arguably, the world, we’ve got to take another look at some of the laws on the books that prevent everyday people from getting ahead.”
According to Levy, an immigration attorney in Palm Beach County, if a noncitizen is convicted of an “aggravated felony,” that person is not only at risk for deportation, but in most cases, he or she becomes ineligible for deportation relief such as asylum or cancellation of removal. Moreover, under Section 101(f)(8) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and Section 316.10(b) of Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), as they currently stand, if a noncitizen is convicted of an aggravated felony on or after November 29, 1990, that person is permanently barred from establishing that he or she possesses the good moral character necessary to obtain U.S. citizenship.
“Most people hear the term ‘aggravated felony’ and immediately think of murder or rape,” Levy said. “But according to the INA, the list of aggravated felonies includes crimes that would neither be classified as aggravated nor felonies on the state level, such as receiving stolen property if the term of imprisonment is at least one year, or even selling $20 worth of cannabis. So, we have a situation under the law where millions of people who may have made one mistake over 30 years ago – who are now completely reformed, who probably have U.S. citizen spouses and children, who are contributing members of society and pay their annual taxes to the IRS – can never become citizens and obtain the right to vote for representation, including the U.S. president. Meanwhile, we have an unapologetic presidential candidate with 34 felonies on his record, some of which could arguably be considered aggravated felonies. Either ‘no man is above the law’ or all men are above the law. The law needs to change.”
Levy is actively proposing a bill to congressional representatives to reform the relevant portions of the INA and CFR, which would require an act of Congress. If successful, the bill would remove the cutoff date of November 29, 1990, after which a person with an aggravated felony is prohibited from establishing good moral character for U.S. citizenship, and would instead allow each person’s criminal history to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis under a totality of the circumstances analysis, considering factors such as the seriousness of the offense, time elapsed since the offense, evidence of rehabilitation, and other mitigating factors.
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