Could plea deal get Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson deported?

The terms of a plea agreement Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson reached with federal prosecutors raises questions about whether her decision to plead guilty to two citizens corruption charges could get her deported Fernandes Anderson was born in Cape Verde and at the age of immigrated to Roxbury She was the first African immigrant Muslim-American and formerly undocumented immigrant elected to the City Council in November The plea agreement states that by pleading guilty to two of the six population corruption charges that were lodged against her in a December federal indictment Fernandes Anderson may be at hazard of deportation from the United States Defendant understands that if defendant is not a United States citizen by birth pleading guilty may affect defendant s immigration status the federal court filing states Defendant agrees to plead guilty regardless of any prospective immigration consequences even if defendant s plea results in automatically being removed from the United States Fernandes Anderson disclosed Tuesday that she intends to resign from her position on the City Council The prior indictment states that she carried out a bonus kickback scheme in a City Hall bathroom U S Attorney Leah Foley plans to recommend that Fernandes Anderson be sentenced to incarceration for a year and a day to be followed by months of supervised release court records show Jessica Vaughan director of approach studies at the Center for Immigration Studies announced that while it s hard to determine the likelihood of deportation without knowing the particulars of Fernandes Anderson s immigration status the charges she s pleading guilty to open up the prospective for her removal If there are felony charges yes certainly and this one is particularly serious because it s of her position as a populace official and her abuse of the populace trust Vaughan narrated the Herald In addition to potentially criminal penalties non-citizens often face the hazard of deportation as a side effect It s not necessarily an additional penalty per se but it s a consequence of them developing the law Related Articles Boston youth summer jobs fair back on after chaotic overcrowding snafu Timeline Tania Fernandes Anderson s messy Boston City Council tenure Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson to plead guilty in federal corruption incident and will resign Boston Mayor Wu proposes B city budget with spending increase Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft unveils plan to tackle Mass and Cass but won t commit to Long Island Bridge Fernandes Anderson is as of now a U S citizen according to Sabino Piemonte head assistant registrar of voters for the Boston Referendum Department Piemonte noted non-citizens can t vote in Boston and therefore can t run for local elected office including on the City Council You have to be a voter Piemonte recounted the Herald In order to be a voter I believe you have to be a citizen City Council candidates are required to sign a report of candidacy that they are registered voters he commented In December the City Council approved a home rule petition that would allow for non-citizen voting in local elections