D
Petty offense exemption in section 4 of Act of September 3, 1954 held inapplicable to deportation charge under section 241(a)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
CHARGE:
Order: Act of 1952—Section 241(a)(4) [
BEFORE THE BOARD
Discussion: The case is before us by certification. The special inquiry officer ordered the respondent deported upon the ground stated above and certified the case.
The respondent, a native and last a national of Hungary, was admitted to the United States for permanent residence on January 16, 1957, and last entered the United States after a visit of 2 days to Canada in the spring of 1959. On August 13, 1959, the respondent was convicted on a plea of guilty of the crime of forgery (
One convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude who has received a suspended sentence to a year or more comes within the terms of section 241(a)(4) and is deportable (Matter of V—, 7 I. & N. Dec. 577). The examining officer and the special inquiry officer believe that section 4 of the Act of September 3, 1954 can
Broadly speaking, section 4 provides that if the “punishment actually imposed” upon a convicted person is to imprisonment of no more than six months, that person is not inadmissible to the United States despite the provisions of section 212(a)(9) relating to the exclusion of aliens convicted of crime (Matter of C—, 6 I. & N. Dec. 331). The special inquiry officer attempted to determine if a suspended sentence to one year‘s imprisonment or the 3 months’ imprisonment actually served was the punishment actually imposed in the instant case. We do not believe his inquiry was pertinent. The provisions of section 4 were not meant to have any relation to a charge based on section 241(a)(4). We find no alternative to this conclusion in view of the fact that a sentence to imprisonment for one year which is suspended is a proper ground for the deportation under section 241(a)(4) even though the alien has never been confined. Thus, if the alien in the instant case had not been required to spend 3 months in jail as part of the suspended sentence he received, he would clearly be deportable. It would be illogical to say that because he is required to serve part of his suspended sentence, he should be in a better position than the alien whose suspended sentence does not call for some confinement.
Decisions of this Board relating to the application of section 4 must be viewed in light of the fact that either the charge dealt with section 212(a)(9) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (
After the respondent‘s entry in the spring of 1959, and within five years after that entry, he committed a crime and was sentenced to confinement for a year. He is deportable under section 241(a)(4).
Order: It is ordered that the respondent be deported from the United States in the manner provided by law on the charge contained in the order to show cause.