Direct Appeals for Immigrant Clients

The New York Court of Appeals held in People v. Peque (2013) that a trial court has a duty under the due process clause to notify an immigrant defendant entering a felony plea that he may be subject to deportation as a result.  IDP’s amicus brief argued that because deportation had become virtually automatic upon conviction of a wide range of NY offenses, the failure of the court to notify the defendant of the immigration consequences mandated vacatur of the conviction.  Many thanks to pro bono counsel at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP for representing IDP on the brief.