Pubdate: Thu, 03 Aug 2000 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Copyright: 2000 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Contact: PO Box 120191, San Diego, CA, 92112-0191 Fax: (619) 293-1440 Website: http://www.uniontrib.com/ Forum: http://www.uniontrib.com/cgi-bin/WebX Author: Bob Egelko, San Francisco Examiner DRUG RULING RAISES DEPORTATION SHIELD SAN FRANCISCO -- Hundreds of foreign-born Californians with one-time convictions for drug possession will be shielded from deportation by a new federal appeals court ruling, say immigration lawyers. Overturning an Immigration and Naturalization Service policy, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that legal immigrants couldn't be deported for a drug possession conviction that had been "expunged," or erased from the books, under state law. Expungement is available in California for first-time offenders who have successfully completed probation, usually a period of one to three years. The issue is crucial for many noncitizens because federal laws requiring deportation for criminal convictions have been expanded in recent years. Crimes that are now grounds for automatic deportation include any adult drug conviction, no matter when it occurred, except possession of a small amount of marijuana. Tuesday's ruling bars deportation if the conviction was expunged. The court didn't decide whether expunged convictions for other crimes could still be grounds for deportation. Even so, hundreds of immigrants in California, and many more in the circuit's other eight states, will be protected by the ruling, said two San Francisco lawyers who took part in the case. "It's going to have a big impact on people in California," said Katherine Brady of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. Under the INS policy, she said, "for first-offense simple possession of a drug, you'd be ripped away from your family and job, and even if you lived here 30 years with a green card you'd be gone.' "It's hugely significant, but it's a narrower decision than we had hoped for" because nondrug cases remain unresolved, said attorney Robert Jobe. INS officials were reviewing the ruling and had no comment. The case involved immigrants from Arizona and Idaho, both longtime legal residents, who faced deportation orders because of drug convictions that were later expunged under state law. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D