Noncitizen Not Advised on Immigration Consequences of Guilty Plea in California

"A noncitizen who has been convicted of a felony based on a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, but who claims that he was not advised on the immigration consequences of his or her plea, has three possible remedies. (1) He or she can appeal from the judgment, pursuant to section 1237, if the record reflects the facts on which the claim is based. (2) He or she can bring a statutory motion to vacate the judgment, under section 1016.5, which requires the trial court to advise the pleading noncitizen felony defendant of the potential immigration consequences of his plea, and requires that the plea be set aside if it fails to do so. (3) He or she may petition for a writ of habeas corpus raising the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel, under theories approved in Strickland v. Washington (1984) 466 U.S. 668, 687-688, and In re Resendiz (2001) 25 Cal.4th 230. These are the only potentially available remedies. A writ of error coram nobis, based on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel for failure to advise the defendant of the immigration consequences of his or her plea, cannot be used to challenge a conviction or withdraw the plea." (People v. Aguilar (2014) 227 Cal.App.4th 60, 68.)