A bench warrant issued for my arrest, but i wanna turn myself in, in another state?

Question

the problem is complicated with the fact that i am currently outta status in the US...if i turn myself in am i subject for an immediate deportation? what will i possible be facing in this situation?

thanks

Answer 1

Do the right thing. Get legal professional legal advice. Take care of your bench warrant and Status issues so you need not live in fear of the law and deportation. Life is too short to always have to look over your shoulder. Remember to never break more than one law at a time. :)

Good Luck.

Answer 2

Several problems beside immigration.

The case you warranted on.  A bench warrant is often issued to arrest someone who fails to make a court date on a criminal case - maybe one that has not yet reached trial, maybe one in which you've pleaded guilty and were waiting sentence.  The case could either be a felony or misdemeanor case.

If you were waiting trial, you may have been warned that your failure to appear would waive your right to have a trial that you'd be present at - the case could have gone all the way to verdict with nothing in your defense but a lawyer sitting next to an empty chair.  (This does happen, but seldomly - most cases just go into hibernation.)

If you were convicted - whether by verdict after trial or by your pleading guilty as part of a plea bargain, your failure to appear could enhance your sentence, even if you are ultimately found deportable.  (In fact, it's in your interest to be deportable, since DHS would likely get you well before you served the minimum.)  The judge could use your failure to appear in determining what your sentence could be.  If you plea-bargained a case, pleaded guilty in return for a promised sentence well below the maximum, that promise is out the window and the judge could easily max you out.  OTOH, the judge could also take into account the circumstances under which you returned to court and the life you led in the interim.

"Bail Jumping"?  Many states have laws that criminalize your failure to appear in an ongoing criminal case, even one in which you haven;t been convicted.  This means that you will face separate charges if you don't appear.  In NY, these crimes are poorly named "Bail Jumping" - and can be either felony or misdemeanor depending on the grade of offense of the older case.  The name is deceptive because bail has nothing to do with crime - if you were out on bail or "ROR", you face the charge of a BJ case.

Deportation.  The rule of thumb we find in NY is that you won't be picked up by DHS until about 30 days after sentence on a felony or some kind of egregious misdemeanor, or a long record of lesser crimes taken as bad in the aggregate.

You need an attorney.

Good luck.

Answer 3

If you plan to turn yourself in, you should really get some legal help to walk you through it. An attorney can best help you to minimize whatever consequences might come. You'd do well to find one who handles immigration and criminal law, in the state in which you are residing. Going to another state to do it isn't going to help you much.