Defense Counsel's Duty to Advise of Immigration Consequences Defense lawyers must correctly advise their clients about the immigration consequences of entering a plea, the U. S. Supreme Court recently held in Padilla v. Kentucky (No. 08-651, March 31, 2010). The Immigrant Defense Project has developed this practice advisory to inform defense lawyers of their duty under Padilla and help them better understand their obligations to noncitizen clients: “Duty of Criminal Defense Counsel Representing an Immigrant Defendant After Padilla v. Kentucky.” Padilla requires defense counsel to provide accurate legal advice regarding the possible immigration consequences of a plea to their noncitizen clients. The Court held that counsel must inform her client where the plea carries a risk of deportation. In doing so, the Court declined to draw a distinction between direct and collateral consequence for purposes of evaluating an ineffective assistance claim based on counsel’s advice regarding deportation. The Court stated that deportation is now “an integral part of the penalty that may be imposed on noncitizen defendants who plead guilty to specified crimes.” Failure to provide such advice and/or providing incorrect advice falls below an objective standard of reasonableness, satisfying the first prong of the Strickland’s test for ineffective assistance of counsel. The amicus brief filed by NACDL, Immigrant Defense Project, National Legal Aid & Defender Association and numerous other public defender and defense lawyer organizations across the country can be found here. Below are links to other pleadings in Padilla on www.abanet.org. Brief for Petitioner Jose Padilla Brief for Respondent Commonwealth of Kentucky Reply Brief for Petitioner Jose Padilla National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) 1660 L St., NW, 12th Floor, Washington, DC 20036 (202) 872-8600 • Fax (202) 872-8690 • assist@nacdl.org