An effort has been made to gather as many “aggravated felony safe havens” here as possible, in three groups.  First, the elements of the aggravated felony deportation ground are briefly described.  See § 7.2, infra.  The safe havens, applicable to all or many aggravated felonies, that are created by the absence of one of the essential elements of the aggravated felony deportation ground are listed here.  See § § 7.3-7.17, infra.  Next, the safe havens associated with the sentence requirements of various aggravated felonies are described.  See § § 7.18-7.28, infra.  Finally, the safe havens associated with each specific aggravated felony category are outlined.  See § § 7.29-7.104, infra.  Bear in mind that these safe havens apply only to the aggravated felony deportation ground.

AGGRAVATED FELONY - FELONY - ORDINARY MEANING OF AGGRAVATED FELONY REQUIRES THE CONVICTION MUST BE A FELONY BEFORE IT CAN BE AN AGGRAVATED FELONY
The ordinary meaning of "aggravated felony" does not include misdemeanor convictions. See Leocal v. Ashcroft, 543 U.S. ___, 160 L. Ed. 2d 271, 125 S. Ct. 377 (2004)(Supreme Court uses "ordinary meaning" approach to conclude that accidental injury does not fall within ordinary meaning of "crime of violence" aggravated felony definition: "In construing both parts of 16, we cannot forget that we ultimately are determining the meaning of the term crime of violence. The ordinary meaning of this term, combined with 16's emphasis on the use of physical force against another person (or the risk of having to use such force in committing a crime), suggests a category of violent, active crimes that cannot be said naturally to include DUI offenses."). This argument could be raised to argue against United States v. Graham, 169 F.2d 787 (3d Cir. 1999) (misdemeanor offenses may qualify as aggravated felonies), and similar cases.

Ninth Circuit

RECORD OF CONVICTION - ENHANCEMENTS
United States v. Moreno-Hernandez, 397 F.3d 1248 (9th Cir. 2005) (post-Booker decision distinguishes Corona-Sanchez, and treats recidivist enhancements as being different than non-recidivist enhancements).

Other

AGGRAVATED FELONY - STATISTICS ON REMOVAL
TRAC report: http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports