Aggravated Felonies Under Immigration Law: Which Florida Convictions Trigger Mandatory Removal

“Aggravated felony” is a federal immigration classification, not a Florida sentencing term, and despite the name, a conviction does not need to be labeled a felony, or involve any aggravating conduct, to qualify under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43). A Florida misdemeanor theft with a suspended one-year sentence can meet the federal definition just as readily as a violent felony. The classification carries the harshest consequences in immigration law: it generally bars cancellation of removal, asylum, and voluntary departure, triggers mandatory detention with no bond hearing in the Eleventh Circuit (which includes Florida), and for a person who is not a lawful permanent resident, can lead to removal without a hearing before an immigration judge at all. This article explains how the category works, which Florida charges are commonly analyzed this way, how it differs from a “crime involving moral turpitude,” and what limited relief may remain.

• What “aggravated felony” means under federal law, and why the name is misleading
• The one-year sentence threshold that pulls in ordinary Florida theft, burglary, and violence charges
• The $10,000 loss threshold for fraud, deceit, and money-laundering offenses
• How an aggravated felony differs from a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT)
• The consequences: detention, removal, and the loss of nearly all relief
• What limited protection may still be available

The direct answer: a federal label, applied categorically, with almost no exceptions

Immigration law does not ask whether Florida called a conviction a felony. It asks whether the offense fits one of roughly two dozen categories listed in 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(A)–(U): a list that has grown substantially since it first covered only murder, drug trafficking, and firearms trafficking in 1988. Adjudicators generally compare the elements of the exact Florida statute and subsection of conviction, not the facts of the arrest, to the federal category, the same categorical approach used for crimes involving moral turpitude. The label applies regardless of when the conviction occurred; a conviction that was not an aggravated felony at the time can become one retroactively if Congress later expands the list. Because the consequences are so severe and so difficult to undo once a plea is entered, this is one of the first questions criminal defense and immigration counsel should coordinate on, before a case resolves, not after.

What counts as an “aggravated felony”?

The federal list is long, but the categories that most often intersect with a Florida state prosecution include:

• A crime of violence with a term of imprisonment, active or suspended, of at least one year
• Theft or burglary with a term of imprisonment, active or suspended, of at least one year, including receipt of stolen property
• Drug trafficking, including many Florida trafficking-threshold offenses and, in some circumstances, an offense that would be a felony under analogous federal drug law
• A fraud or deceit offense in which the victim’s loss exceeds $10,000
• Money laundering or monetary transactions involving more than $10,000 in criminally derived funds
• Firearms or explosives trafficking
• Murder, rape, and sexual abuse of a minor
• Certain obstruction of justice, perjury, and bribery offenses with a one-year sentence
• Alien smuggling and certain document-fraud offenses
• Failure to appear for a felony sentencing or on a felony charge carrying a possible sentence of two years or more

This list is not exhaustive, and it is not a Florida-specific list. It is a federal category that Florida convictions can fall into or out of depending on exactly how a statute is written and exactly what sentence is imposed.

The one-year threshold is the trap in ordinary cases

The category that catches the most people by surprise is not violent crime. It is the one-year sentence threshold attached to theft, burglary, and crime-of-violence offenses. Under the current federal standard, a suspended sentence of one year or more counts the same as time actually served. That means a Florida withhold of adjudication or a probationary sentence with a one-year suspended jail or prison term can still trigger the aggravated felony classification, even though nothing about it felt severe in state court and even though Florida itself never labeled the case a felony.

This is why the specific sentence negotiated, not just the charge, can be the single most consequential immigration decision in the case. A plea to 364 days instead of 365, or restructuring probation to avoid a one-year suspended sentence, can be the difference between an aggravated felony finding and a conviction that remains within the ordinary CIMT or deportability framework. See How Criminal Charges Can Affect Immigration Status in Florida for how a Florida withhold of adjudication interacts with the federal conviction definition.

The $10,000 threshold for fraud, deceit, and money-laundering offenses

Fraud, theft-by-deception, organized scheme to defraud, and money-laundering offenses are analyzed differently, not by the sentence imposed, but by the dollar amount of loss to the victim or the amount of funds involved. A fraud or deceit conviction in which the loss to the victim exceeded $10,000 can qualify as an aggravated felony regardless of the sentence actually imposed. The loss amount is generally determined from the specific facts underlying the conviction, which makes restitution figures, plea colloquies, and the charging document especially important in a case involving alleged fraud, organized scheme to defraud under § 817.034, Florida Statutes, or a theft offense involving deception rather than force or stealth.

Aggravated felony vs. crime involving moral turpitude: two different federal classifications

These two labels are the two federal immigration classifications most likely to come up in the same Florida criminal case, and they are frequently confused, but they work differently, can apply to the same or different conduct, and are not interchangeable.

	Aggravated felony	Crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT)
Legal basis	8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43), an enumerated list of specific offense categories	Case law under the Board of Immigration Appeals and federal courts, no statutory list
What triggers it	Fits an enumerated category, often combined with a sentence (1 year+) or loss ($10,000+) threshold	Inherently base, vile, or depraved conduct combined with a culpable mental state
Petty-offense-type exception	None	A narrow petty offense exception may apply to the inadmissibility ground only
Relief available	Cancellation of removal and asylum are generally barred outright; only narrow protections (below) may remain	Waivers and cancellation of removal may be available in narrower circumstances
Detention	Generally triggers mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(c), with no bond hearing in the Eleventh Circuit	Does not by itself trigger mandatory detention

A single Florida conviction (grand theft over a certain value with a one-year suspended sentence, for example) can be both a CIMT and an aggravated felony at the same time, and the aggravated felony label generally controls because it forecloses more relief. For a full breakdown of the CIMT classification on its own, see Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude: Which Florida Charges Threaten Your Green Card or Visa.

Which Florida charges are commonly analyzed as aggravated felonies?

Florida offense	Florida statute	Typical aggravated-felony analysis
Grand theft, burglary	§ 812.014, § 810.02	Aggravated felony where a one-year (active or suspended) term of imprisonment is imposed
Robbery	§ 812.13	Frequently analyzed as a crime of violence with a one-year sentence, or as theft with force
Drug trafficking	§ 893.135	Commonly treated as drug trafficking under the federal category; some possession-based charges may also qualify depending on the elements
Organized fraud, scheme to defraud	§ 817.034	Aggravated felony where the victim’s loss exceeds $10,000
Aggravated battery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon	§ 784.045	Frequently analyzed as a crime of violence with a one-year sentence
Money laundering	§ 896.101	Aggravated felony where the funds involved exceed $10,000

Do not treat this table as a checklist. Whether a specific Florida conviction qualifies depends on the exact subsection charged, the elements the statute required for that subsection, and, for the sentence- and loss-based categories, the actual sentence imposed or the loss amount established in the record. The same statute can produce an aggravated felony in one case and not in a materially similar one, based entirely on how the plea was structured.

What happens after an aggravated felony finding

The consequences are broader and harsher than for almost any other immigration classification:

• Mandatory detention. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(c), a noncitizen charged as removable for an aggravated felony is generally subject to mandatory detention during removal proceedings. Courts in the Eleventh Circuit, which covers Florida, have generally read this as detention without a bond hearing, unlike some other circuits that allow a hearing after prolonged detention.
• Loss of relief. An aggravated felony generally bars cancellation of removal, asylum, and voluntary departure outright, not merely makes them harder to obtain.
• Administrative removal without a judge, for some. A person who is not a lawful permanent resident can be placed in administrative removal proceedings under 8 U.S.C. § 1228(b), which do not include a hearing before an immigration judge and are difficult to challenge.
• Permanent consequences after removal. A noncitizen removed based on an aggravated felony conviction generally faces permanent inadmissibility, with only narrow, discretionary paths back.
• Retroactive application. The classification applies without regard to when the conviction occurred, a conviction that predates a later expansion of the statutory list can still qualify today.

Narrow relief that may still be available

An aggravated felony finding does not eliminate every protection, though what remains is limited and fact-intensive: withholding of removal (a “clear probability” of persecution, a higher bar than asylum, unavailable for what the law treats as a “particularly serious crime,” generally including most aggravated felonies with an aggregate sentence of five years or more); protection under the Convention Against Torture, for a person who can show it is more likely than not they would be tortured if returned; and, in narrow circumstances where the aggravated felony bar does not apply, a § 212(h) waiver or cancellation of removal, generally unavailable to a lawful permanent resident whose aggravated felony conviction occurred after admission. See Can You Get a Green Card With a Criminal Record? for how these bars interact with a pending application. None of this relief is automatic, and eligibility depends on the complete criminal and immigration history.

Conclusion: the sentence, not just the charge, decides this classification

An aggravated felony finding turns as much on the specific sentence imposed, or the specific loss amount established, as it does on the charge itself, which means the plea negotiation in a Florida criminal case can be the most consequential immigration decision a noncitizen defendant ever makes. Coordinating criminal defense and immigration counsel before a plea is entered, rather than after a conviction is final, is the only point at which this classification can realistically be avoided.

Frequently asked questions

Does “aggravated felony” mean the same thing as a felony under Florida law?

No. It is a federal immigration classification defined at 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43), and a conviction does not need to be labeled a felony, or involve aggravating conduct, under Florida law to qualify. A Florida misdemeanor with a suspended one-year sentence can meet the federal definition.

Can a withhold of adjudication avoid an aggravated felony finding?

Generally no. A withhold of adjudication can still count as a conviction for federal immigration purposes when the person pleaded guilty or no contest, or was found guilty, and the court imposed some form of punishment, penalty, or restraint, and the sentence imposed, including a suspended sentence, is what matters for the one-year threshold categories.

Is every theft or burglary conviction in Florida an aggravated felony?

No. Theft and burglary become aggravated felonies specifically when a term of imprisonment of one year or more, active or suspended, is imposed. A conviction with a shorter sentence generally does not qualify under this category, though it may still be analyzed as a crime involving moral turpitude.

Can an aggravated felony conviction be appealed on immigration grounds?

The government’s charging decision in an administrative removal case is difficult to challenge directly, but whether a specific conviction actually meets the federal aggravated felony definition is a legal question that can be raised, including on appeal to a federal court of appeals in some circumstances. This is a highly technical area that depends on the exact statute and record of conviction.

Does an aggravated felony conviction affect a U.S. citizen family member?

Not their citizenship, but it can affect the noncitizen’s ability to remain with or later sponsor family, since most relief that weighs family ties (cancellation of removal, some waivers) is generally unavailable once the classification applies.

If I’m not a lawful permanent resident, does an aggravated felony still matter?

It can matter more. A non-permanent resident with an aggravated felony conviction can be placed in administrative removal proceedings without a hearing before an immigration judge, which leaves far less opportunity to contest the classification than a case that goes through the regular immigration court process.

Speak with a lawyer before the criminal case is resolved

Whether a Florida conviction becomes a federal aggravated felony often depends on decisions made inside the criminal case (the exact charge, the exact subsection, and the exact sentence) long before immigration court ever gets involved. MK Law’s Fort Lauderdale immigration and criminal defense attorneys coordinate on cases where both are at stake.

Contact MK Law to discuss a pending Florida charge and how it may be analyzed under federal immigration law before any plea is entered.

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