Must a district court confirm a defendant understands his or her guilty plea could lead to the cancellation of their citizenship? In United States v. Singh, the Sixth Circuit answered "no."
Karnail Singh fraudulently obtained residency in the United States, and, using the same false information, he obtained a United States passport. A federal grand jury subsequently indicted him for using a fraudulent procured passport and for making false statements to immigration officials.
Pursuant to a written plea agreement, Singh pleaded guilty to the fraudulently procured passport charge in exchange for the Government's agreement to dismiss the false statement count and a lower sentencing range. In his plea agreement, he agreed that while guilty plea would "not necessarily result in immigration consequences" it could affect his removability "in conjunction with possible future criminal charges." During his rearraignment, Singh confirmed he pleaded guilty despite any potential immigration consequences, and the District court informed him his plea could result in the cancellation of his citizenship.
After the Government began proceedings to revoke Singh's citizenship, he petitioned the District Court for a writ of coram nobis, asking it to set aside his conviction. The District Court subsequently denied his petition, and Singh appealed.
According to the Court, Singh's petition suffered from a fatal flaw: the District Court did not commit a fundamental error in accepting his guilty plea. Since immigration consequences are collateral, and not direct, consequences of a guilty plea, the Court concluded Singh knowingly and voluntarily pleaded guilty, whether or not he understood it would lead to the Government denaturalizing him.
Singh also argued his written plea agreement led him to reasonably believe his guilty plea would only affect his citizenship if he committed another crime, and that the District Court violated Rule 11 by not correcting his misunderstanding. The Court disagreed, noting Rule 11 only required a "generic warning" regarding a guilty plea's immigration consequences.
The Court next rejected Singh's claim he received ineffective assistance of counsel because his counsel allegedly did not explain the impact his guilty plea would have on his citizenship. Finding that the District Court adequately warned him about the potential immigration consequences posed by his guilty plea, it found Singh had not demonstrated a "reasonably probability" that but for his counsel's error, he would have rejected the plea agreement and either gone to trial or negotiated a different plea agreement. Finding no error, the Court affirmed the District Court's order denying his petition.
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