A noncitizen is deportable if a civil or criminal court finds that he or she violated “the portion of a [domestic violence] protection order that involves protection against credible threats of violence, repeated harassment, or bodily injury” to the persons for whom the order was issued.²¹⁹ The behavior that is the basis of the finding must have occurred on or after September 30, 1996.²²⁰ A court finding that the person violated a portion of a protective order without engaging in “conduct that violate[d] the portion of a protection order that involves protection against credible threats of violence, repeated harassment, or bodily injury to the person or persons for whom the protection order was issued” should not cause deportability.²²¹
Otherwise, convictions for both misdemeanor and felony violation of a no-contact order and findings of violations of civil protection orders will trigger this ground of deportation. This ground requires only a “determination” by a court of a violation—not a conviction.

If the noncitizen must avoid triggering this ground of deportation, a safer strategy is to plead to an alternative offense that will not trigger deportation. If this is not possible, counsel should attempt to craft a plea statement that either specifically states a violation that does not involve threats of violence, repeated harassment, or bodily injury. Or, the alternative is to plead generally such that the statement does not specify whether the conduct constituted any of this listed behavior. Note that violation of a DV protection or no contact order is not listed as a specific ground of inadmissibility. To make someone inadmissible (as opposed to deportable), the NCO violation would have to be independently considered a “crime involving moral turpitude.”

^{219 See 8 USC §1227(a)(2)(E)(ii); INA § 237 (a)(2)(E)(ii).
220 The date of enactment of IIRIRA. The statute is explicitly not retroactive to convictions before that date.
221 Although, as a practical matter, immigration authorities cannot be counted upon to analyze the statute this carefully. Thus, counsel should assume that convictions/findings for protection order and NCO violations are likely to result in the noncitizen ending up in removal proceedings}.