Bill > SB281

This bill amends Section 1016.5 of the Penal Code to enhance immigration advisement procedures for criminal defendants who are not U.S. citizens. The bill requires courts to provide a verbatim advisement to defendants before accepting a guilty or no contest plea, explicitly stating that conviction may result in deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization. The legislation clarifies existing law by mandating that the immigration consequences warning must be given word-for-word and specifically emphasizes that the advisement applies to non-U.S. citizens. If a court fails to provide this advisement and the defendant can demonstrate potential immigration consequences, the defendant may request to vacate the judgment and withdraw their plea. The bill also updates language to use gender-neutral terminology (changing "his or her" to "their") and maintains the legislative intent of promoting fairness by ensuring non-citizen defendants are fully aware of the potential immigration impacts of their criminal plea before accepting it. The goal is to protect defendants who may not understand the long-term immigration consequences of their criminal proceedings.

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https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB281