The 5-3 ruling by Justice Elena Kagan clarified immigrants can qualify for removal from the U.S. even if they lack an element in corresponding federal laws that trigger deportation. The decision rejected claims by a Dominican electrician convicted of attempted arson that the deportation trigger was limited to crimes related to interstate commerce.
The Immigration and Nationality Act lists some 80 “aggravated felonies” that justify expedited deportation proceedings, whether the conviction came under federal law or corresponding state or foreign laws. The court, in a ruling that scrambled ideological lines, held that qualifying state laws need not include a link to interstate commerce—a typical element in federal criminal statutes.
