NYC Cocaine & Heroin Trafficking Deportation Attorney
When federal agents arrest you for cocaine or heroin trafficking in New York City, you’re not just facing prison time – if your not a U.S. citizen, your staring down the barrel of deportation that will separate you from everything and everyone you’ve built your life around.
The intersection of federal drug laws and immigration consequences creates a legal nightmare that most attorneys don’t fully understand,and that lack of understanding can cost you your entire future in America. We’ve handled these cases for decades, and we know the specific provisions of Title 21 USC Section 841 that prosecutors use to transform simple possession charges into trafficking cases that automatically trigger removal proceedings under the Immigration and Nationality Act. The federal government classifies any drug trafficking conviction as an aggravated felony under INA Section 101(a)(43)(B), which means you lose almost every form of immigration relief available – no cancellation of removal, no asylum, no voluntary departure in most cases.
What makes this especially devastating is that the definition of “trafficking” under immigration law is much broader than what most people think,it includes simple possession with intent to distribute, and prosecutors can infer intent from the amount you’re carrying, the packaging, or even text messages on your phone.
Someone carrying drugs for personal use gets charged with trafficking because they had individual baggies.
Suddenly their facing mandatory deportation even though they never sold anything to anyone. The quantity thresholds that separate personal use from trafficking charges are shockingly low, and they haven’t been updated to reflect the reality of drug use patterns. For crack cocaine, just 5 grams triggers a five-year mandatory minimum under federal law, while powder cocaine requires 500 grams for the same sentence – this disparity has devastated immigrant communities for decades because crack prosecutions disproportionately target Black and Latino defendants. Heroin cases are even worse because theres no threshold amount for federal prosecution, meaning any quantity can support trafficking charges if the prosecutor claims you intended to distribute it.
We know how weight calculations work in federal court.
Prosecutors include the weight of cutting agents and packaging materials to inflate the numbers, turning a minor possession case into a major trafficking prosecution. Once your arrested on federal drug charges, Immigration and Customs Enforcement immediately gets notified through their automated systems,and they’ll likely issue a detainer that prevents your release even if you make bail on the criminal charges. This 48-hour hold gives ICE time to take you into immigration custody, where you’ll face a completely separate legal proceeding while your criminal case is still pending. The timing creates an impossible situation – you need to fight your criminal charges to avoid deportation, but being locked up in immigration detention makes it nearly impossible to assist in your own defense, gather evidence, or maintain contact with witnesses who could help your case.
Coordination between criminal and immigration courts happens because a mistake in one courtroom destroys your chances in the other. The immigration court system operates nothing like criminal court, with different rules of evidence, no right to a court-appointed attorney, and immigration judges who used to work as prosecutors for the government.
Your criminal defense attorney might get you a great plea deal that avoids prison time.
But if they don’t understand immigration law, that conviction will still get you deported – too many cases exist where someone pleads guilty to “simple possession” thinking they’re getting off easy, only to learn that any drug conviction except first-time simple possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana triggers deportation.The stakes are too high to work with attorneys who don’t understand both systems, which is why our team includes both criminal defense lawyers and immigration attorneys who work together on every case. For clients who entered the United States before April 1, 1997, there might be hope through something called 212(c) relief, which allows certain lawful permanent residents to avoid deportation despite drug convictions.
The eligibility requirements are complex.
You need seven years of lawful permanent residence, with at least five years of physical presence after admission, and the conviction must be for a crime that would have been eligible for 212(c) at the time you pleaded guilty. This provision keeps families together, but it requires extensive documentation of rehabilitation, family ties, employment history, and community support. The government will argue that drug trafficking is too serious for discretionary relief,so comprehensive packages showing why clients deserve a second chance become essential. When 212(c) isn’t available, other avenues including Convention Against Torture claims for clients who face persecution in their home countries need exploration. Drug traffickers often face vigilante justice or execution in certain countries, and documenting these risks through country condition evidence, expert testimony, and sometimes witness statements from people who’ve suffered similar persecution becomes necessary.
The burden of proof is high – you need to show its more likely than not that you’ll be tortured with government acquiescence.
But winning these cases happens by showing how drug cartels operate with impunity in certain regions, making anyone accused of trafficking a target regardless of actual guilt. The key to avoiding deportation often lies in how criminal charges get negotiated from the very beginning. Federal prosecutors have enormous discretion in how they charge drug cases, and getting trafficking charges reduced to simple possession or diverted into treatment programs that don’t carry immigration consequences requires skill. Sometimes negotiating for state prosecution instead of federal opens up more options for immigration-safe dispositions.
Prosecutors dismiss cases entirely when problems with the search that discovered the drugs surface.
Breaks in the chain of custody, or unreliable confidential informants whose testimony forms the basis of the charges. Evidence suppression motions take on extra importance in these cases because excluding the drugs from evidence doesn’t just help your criminal case – it can save you from deportation entirely. The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches whether your a citizen or not, and aggressively challenging every aspect of how police obtained evidence against you becomes crucial. Drug trafficking investigations often involve pretextual traffic stops, warrantless searches based on supposed “plain view” or “plain smell” observations, and coerced consent that wouldn’t hold up under scrutiny. When officers violated your constitutional rights, evidence gets thrown out – undermining the entire basis for both criminal prosecution and deportation proceedings.
The human cost of deportation in trafficking cases devastates entire families, especially when the person facing removal has U.S. citizen children who depend on them. Immigration judges must consider hardship to qualifying relatives, but the standard is “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” – ordinary hardship like financial difficulties or separation from family isn’t enough. Documentation includes everything from specialized medical care that children receive in the U.S. to educational opportunities they’d lose in another country, psychological evaluations showing how deportation would traumatize them, and evidence that the other parent can’t provide adequate care alone.
These cases require painting a complete picture.
When deportation proceedings move forward despite best efforts in criminal court, focus shifts to the immigration appeals process while continuing to fight the criminal charges. The Board of Immigration Appeals has specific standards for reviewing drug trafficking cases, and crafting arguments targeting both legal errors and discretionary decisions by the immigration judge requires expertise. Circuit courts have jurisdiction to review constitutional claims and questions of law, though they cant review discretionary decisions,so framing issues carefully to preserve appealability matters.
Filing a stay of removal becomes critical.
Once someones deported, winning an appeal becomes meaningless if they can’t return to benefit from it. The intersection of criminal and immigration law in drug trafficking cases requires attorneys who understand both systems intimately, not just criminal lawyers who dabble in immigration or immigration attorneys who don’t understand federal criminal practice. Building relationships with prosecutors who trust fair negotiation, and developing strategies that protect clients from both prison and deportation takes decades of experience. Every case requires a customized approach based on criminal history, immigration status, family circumstances, and the specific facts of the arrest,because cookie-cutter defenses don’t work when someones entire life hangs in the balance. Federal drug trafficking charges and potential deportation require attorneys who’ve walked this path before and know every pitfall that could destroy your case – contact us immediately at 888-997-5170.