Crimes of Moral Turpitude

(G)  Foreign Crimes by Juveniles.  A crime committed by a juvenile in a foreign country is assessed according to the standards of the FJDA in order to determine whether the underlying adjudication constitutes a conviction.  See § 2.9, supra.  An immigrant does not face removal for a foreign conviction that would constitute juvenile delinquency in the United States.[95]  If the foreign finding is considered a conviction, counsel should determine whether the “Youthful Offender” exception to inadmissibility for crimes involving moral turpitude applies to prevent the noncitizen from being excluded.  See § 4.6, infra.

[95] Compare Matter of Ramirez-Rivera, 18 I. & N. Dec. 135 (BIA 1981) (child of 13 who was subject to mandatory treatment as a juvenile under United States law cannot be considered “convicted” of a crime for immigration purposes), with Matter of De La Nues, 18 I. & N. Dec. 140 (BIA 1981) (16-year-old held excludable for conviction of crime involving moral turpitude because he could have been treated as an adult under the FJDA where sentence for analogous crime under District of Columbia Code could have resulted in transfer to adult court had crime been committed in the United States).