In United States v. Farhane, No. 20-1666 (2d Cir. Oct. 31, 2024), the en banc Second Circuit (Carney, joined by Wesley, Lee, Robinson, Perez, Nathan, Merriam, and Kahn) held that “a naturalized U.S. citizen” charged with a crime “has a Sixth Amendment right to be advised by counsel that he may be denaturalized and deported as a result of his entry of a guilty plea.” Slip op. 13. Consequently, “criminal defense attorneys have a Sixth Amendment obligation to inquire into and advise a naturalized citizen client of any risk of deportation following denaturalization proceedings that accompany the client’s guilty plea, just as they do for a deportation risk facing a noncitizen client.” Slip op. 6.
As discussed in the practice points below, just as with noncitizen clients, Farhane requires defense counsel representing naturalized U.S. citizen clients to inquire into the client’s status and advise about risks to that status …