Offense
Failure to register as a sex offender
Aggravated Felony (AF)
Not AF
Crime Involving Moral Turpitude (CIMT)
Although it should not be CIMT, assume it might be charged as one at least in some regions; see Advice
Other Removal Grounds
Conviction under state law for failing to register is a federal offense, 18 USC 2250, and the federal conviction is a basis for removal.1 See 8 USC § 1227(a)(2)(A)(v) and § N.13 Convictions that Bar the Defendant from Petitioning for Family Members: the Adam Walsh Act. See also Defending Immigrants in the Ninth Circuit, Chapter 6, § 6.22 (www.ilrc.org/crimes).
Advice and Comments
CIMT: Despite the fact that 290 can be committed by negligence, and moral turpitude requires at least recklessness, the BIA held that PC 290 is a CIMT. The Ninth Cir declined to follow the BIA and remanded.2In Pannu v. Holder, 639 F.3d 1225 (9th Cir. 2011) the court remanded to the BIA to re-consider its holding in Matter of Tobar-Lobo, 24 I&N Dec. (BIA 2007), which is in tension with the requirement that an intent of at least recklessness is required for a CIMT. The BIA has not yet issued another opinion.
Thus, in the Ninth Cir this should not be held a CIMT, but some risk remains that it would be so held outside the Ninth Cir, or conceivably that Ninth Circuit would change its rule in future.