NY top court requires deportation warning
ALBANY— New York trial judges must warn non-citizens they may be deported before allowing them to plead guilty to felonies, the state’s highest court ruled Tuesday.
Defendants are entitled to be notified of such “a grave impact and frequent occurrence,” the Court of Appeals said. The majority cited increased deportations by immigration authorities under tougher U.S. laws and enforcement policy.
The court, divided 5-2, said the new requirement is grounded in the constitutional right to due process.
“Although New York courts have no role in ICE’s enforcement decisions, they do render judgments of conviction which routinely ensure the defendants’ eventual transfer, by way of state correctional authorities, into federal custody, where they will almost certainly be deported,” Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam wrote.