E.  Juvenile Conduct Which Triggers Inadmissibility Without a Conviction



Although juvenile adjudications cannot result in “convictions” for immigration purposes, they can provide the basis for findings of inadmissibility. When immigration adjudicators are able to view juvenile adjudications, they may use them to conclude that certain grounds of inadmissibility have been triggered. All parties involved in a juvenile adjudication should be aware that such a proceeding can later serve as the basis for a finding that the non-citizen has engaged in conduct which triggers serious immigration consequences. It should further be noted that it is the non-citizen’s burden to establish his or her admissibility to the United States.

Below are common grounds of inadmissibility that can be triggered by conduct without a conviction:

8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(C)
  • If an adjudicator has “reason to believe” that a non-citizen is or has been an illicit trafficker of a controlled substance, that person is inadmissible. 
8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(C)(ii)
  • This clause applies to juveniles as well as adults.  Immediate relatives of persons that the adjudicator has “reason to believe” are drug traffickers are also inadmissible if the relatives have received a benefit from the illicit activity, and the relative knew or should have known that the benefit was the product of the drug trafficking. 
8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(H)
  • If an adjudicator has “reason to believe” that a non-citizen juvenile has been a trafficker in persons, the non-citizen juvenile will be inadmissible.
8 U.S.C. §1182(a)(6)(E)
  • Also, 8 U.S.C. §1182(a)(6)(E) makes inadmissible any person, including a non-citizen juvenile, who has at any time knowingly “encouraged, induced, assisted, abetted, or aided any other alien to enter or to try to enter the United States in violation of law […]”
8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(1)(iv)
  • A non-citizen juvenile who is determined to be a drug abuser or addict will be considered inadmissible.  
8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(D)
  • A non-citizen juvenile who has engaged or intends to engage in prostitution is inadmissible. 
8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(C)
  • A non-citizen juvenile who has made a false claim to United States citizenship or has made misrepresentations or presented false documents for an immigration benefit is inadmissible.
Please note that in an immigration adjudication or proceeding, a non-citizen juvenile may be able to argue that due to her age, she was not capable of knowingly engaging in the specific conduct allegedly creating the ground of inadmissibility. It is important to recognize, however, that there is no blanket exception for conduct engaged in as a minor and that any such arguments would be considered on a case-by-case basis.