Old criminal convictions can lead to deportation years later. Learn how a Penal Code § 1473.7 motion in California can help you stay in the United States.
By Adam A. Klugman Owner and Principal Attorney Klugman Law PC
Imagine you arrive in the United States from your country of birth at a young age. Maybe a family member sponsors you and you get a green card. Maybe you come as a refugee, or maybe you arrive undocumented. You go to elementary school here, then high school. You grow up. You get married and have kids who are U.S. citizens. You work hard, pay taxes, maybe even start your own business. No matter what your passport says, the United States is your home. It's the only home you've ever really known.
At some point — maybe many years ago — you made a mistake and ended up in criminal court. Maybe it was theft, drug-related, or something worse. But you acknowledged your mistake, served your sentence, and moved on with your life — or so you thought. Here you are, years later, in 2025, living a fulfilling life and raising your family. You are a green card holder, and everyone else in your home is a U.S. citizen. You don't travel internationally much, or at all, but you decide to take a trip across the globe to Asia to visit extended family you haven't seen in years or decades.
When you land back in the United States, immigration authorities detain you at the airport. You are told that your crime from 20 or 25 years ago is a deportable offense. They are going to initiate removal proceedings against you. You are devastated and shocked — because you. did. not. know.
This actually happened to two of my clients in the last year — one at SFO in San Francisco, and the other at LAX in Los Angeles. Both had been living in the U.S. as lawful permanent residents for decades. Both were detained after returning from international travel and told they were now inadmissible or removable based on convictions from many years ago. Today, both clients are safe at home in California with their families. Their green cards are valid. They are in good standing with the United States — and they are no longer facing removal proceedings. Why? Because we prevailed on a motion to vacate their convictions in Superior Court under Penal Code § 1473.7.
Vacating a California Criminal Conviction Under Penal Code § 1473.7
California Penal Code § 1473.7 allows someone to ask the court to vacate a conviction if they didn't fully understand the immigration consequences when they accepted a deal to plead guilty or plead no contest. It is a form of "post-conviction relief," which is a legal proceeding to challenge or fix problems with a conviction, even though the case may be long over. Unlike an appeal, there is not a set time limit that would prevent someone from seeking this. If a plea is not made voluntarily or with full knowledge of the consequences, it is fatally flawed and invalid. This principle is fundamental to the Due Process rights that everyone is entitled to under the U.S. Constitution.
If the plea is vacated, it brings you back to the moment before you pleaded guilty or no contest. In other words, we still have to deal with the existing charges, even if they were from decades ago. Once the plea is vacated, the goal is to work with the prosecutor in securing a final dismissal of the charges forever, or if not, pleading the case down to an immigration-safe charge. Under federal law, different crimes carry different immigration consequences depending on your immigration status. It is essential for your attorney to understand exactly your status in the United States and to ensure that the final outcome of the case will allow you to remain here.
What Needs to Be Shown to Vacate a Plea for Failure to Understand Immigration Consequences in California Under Penal Code § 1473.7
To vacate a plea under Penal Code § 1473.7 in California, you must show that you didn't meaningfully understand the immigration consequences of your conviction, and that this misunderstanding affected your decision to plead guilty or no contest. This could be because your attorney failed to properly advise you, gave you incorrect advice, or because you personally misunderstood what would happen to your immigration status if you accepted the plea. It doesn't matter whether the error was your lawyer's fault, the court's fault, or your own misunderstanding — what matters is that your ability to make an informed decision was harmed.
Nonetheless, a simple statement like “I didn't know” or “my lawyer didn't tell me” is not enough. Your post-conviction lawyer needs to build a record — through declarations, court transcripts, case law, legislative history, and immigration records. Because federal immigration law creates so many distinct categories and subcategories, your attorney must identify the exact legal theory that proves you did not fully understand.
These cases can be especially challenging because California law states that a court must advise a defendant at the time of their guilty plea that a plea of guilty or no contest can or will result in their deportation or denial of admission or naturalization to the United States. This is always the prosecution's first line of attack against us when we seek this post-conviction relief. But it's not that simple. The California State Supreme Court has ruled that this generic statement is no substitute for the proper advice of an attorney regarding specific immigration consequences.
Understanding the Specific Immigration Consequences of a California Criminal Charge
Federal immigration law is full of nuances, exceptions, and overlapping categories that affect each class of immigrant differently. The rules are different for green card holders, visa holders, DACA recipients, refugees, asylees, or undocumented people. Certain classes of offenses, such as hard drugs, or under some circumstances even marijuana, make a person deportable, even if they are a lawful permanent resident or a green card holder. On the other hand, theft charges may not necessarily make a green card holder removable (though they certainly do under certain circumstances), but they do make everybody inadmissible, as thefts are considered “crimes of moral turpitude.”
This means that if you're a green card holder who travels outside the United States and tries to return, you will not be admitted back in. This happened to the client who was detained at SFO. He was not going to be let back into the United States, despite his lawful permanent resident status, because of a theft conviction from over 20 years prior. He had no idea of this consequence. He was given a hearing date with immigration authorities where he would be facing removal charges. In the meantime, my firm got involved, and we got the conviction vacated. He has since been legally "admitted" back into the United States and is living here legally and safely.
What Happens After a Plea Is Vacated Under Penal Code § 1473.7
Once your state court conviction is vacated, the next steps depend on your immigration status. Some people discover their situation before they are ever detained or placed into removal proceedings — often by researching their background before renewing a green card or applying for naturalization. Even today, the federal government is a massive and slow-moving system. It can take years, sometimes decades, for authorities to move to deport someone based on an old conviction.
If you catch the issue early, take care of it properly in state court, and your immigration status is otherwise legal and stable, you may not have to do anything further. On the other hand, if removal proceedings have already started, you will need your attorney to work toward canceling the removal case in immigration court, which is a separate process from criminal court proceedings. If you have legal status here in the United States, and the conviction was the only thing making you removable, your attorney should be able to have your removal charges dismissed — provided the conviction has been properly vacated, dismissed, or changed to a safer charge.
If you have no legal status, the government may still have grounds to deport you. However, even if you are undocumented, vacating a problematic conviction will still benefit you. For example, if you are undocumented but have no aggravated felony convictions, your immigration attorney may be able to seek discretionary relief from the government, such as cancellation of removal based on family hardship. But if you have certain aggravated felony convictions on your record, immigration law is clear: you are barred from even applying for discretionary relief such as hardship.
By vacating the problematic conviction, your attorney can restore eligibility to seek relief — even if you are undocumented.
Expungement Doesn't Fix Immigration Consequences
One question I get from many clients and even other attorneys is: does expungement remove the immigration consequence of a guilty plea? The answer is no. Unfortunately, expungement, or dismissal or reduction of charges under California statutes like Proposition 47 or Proposition 64, does not erase federal immigration consequences. Federal immigration courts consider these types of remedies "rehabilitative relief," meaning the state court dismisses a case later on for reasons not related to the actual validity of the plea. Unless the conviction is vacated because of a procedural or substantive error — like a fundamental misunderstanding of immigration consequences — it will still exist for immigration purposes, and it will still trigger deportation or denial of admission.
Thankfully, people can and do save themselves from deportation by proceeding with a motion to vacate for failure to understand immigration consequences. My firm has saved quite a few people in this exact predicament.
The Right Lawyer Makes the Difference
Fixing an old conviction isn't easy, but it can be done — and for many people, it's the only way to stay with their families and protect the lives they've built in the United States. If you're facing immigration problems because of a prior criminal case, you need to act.
I am proud to represent clients throughout Southern California and the Los Angeles area in post-conviction immigration relief motions to vacate. I stand by my record and invite you to read reviews from many of my clients who have been saved by this motion.
📞 Contact Klugman Law PC today. Schedule a consultation and find out if a Penal Code § 1473.7 motion can keep you here in the United States.
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