Criminal Law apply US citizenship with criminal record?

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tamade78

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Hi, I am currently a green card holder and have fulfilled all the requirements for naturalization, but I have an arrest and criminal record of shop lifting over $400, which is a felony. And I am still under probation right now. I have been search over the internet about this, and I just realized how serious this is. I found that "non-citizen criminal defendants are subject to deportation for even minor criminal offenses, including municipal offenses, minor drug crimes, domestic violence offenses, violations of restraining orders, petty theft, and Driving Under the Influence." And expunge the record doesn't mean anything to the INS. Yet, I talked to an INS atterny, but he said that he had few cases of people commiting petty theft but they got naturalized with no problem. So I am not sure what's going to happen to me now. what's the chance of me getting deported if the INS knows that I got a criminal record? Can I still re-enter US if I leave the country and try to come back and the custom sees that I have a felony record and I am holding a green card? please help me out, thank you.

PS. I know it's wrong for what I did, but if I was thinking clearly when I was shop lifting, then I wouldn't had done it. totally dumb. My new moto is now "regret don't happen until it's too late!!"
 
I sympathize with your situation but find it very difficult to answer. I'm not sure you have any problem that has arisen for which you need assistance. It sounds more like you want to know what the chances are that you might have a problem. That's difficult at best -- how can you quantify what will be done, e.g. a 76% chance that you could be deported? Additionally, my understanding is that numbers change and given the economic situation in this country I can only wonder what kind of an effect that would have on the naturalization process. Allegations of an additional 100,000 jobs being lost in New York City as a result of the World Trade Center tragedy alone are devastating. How about the effect on the rest of the country which is going through a difficult economic time (the government and especially the analysts on Wall Street do not want us to use the "R" word!! :) ). This is difficult to say and may be best answered by an attorney who is familiar with the situation and who may have given you a consultation for how much assistance may cost.
 
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