Green‑Card Holder from Canton Held 10 Days Over Decades‑Old Marijuana Conviction

(CANTON) A green-card holder from Canton was released this week after spending 10 days in immigration custody over a decades-old marijuana conviction, a case that highlights the clash between state cannabis reforms and federal immigration law as of August 25, 2025. Despite legalization in many states, federal law still treats marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance, and that label drives detention, deportation, and blocked re-entry for non-citizens with even minor marijuana records.

Federal immigration rules have not changed in 2024–2025. Under those rules, almost any marijuana conviction can make a lawful permanent resident deportable. The narrow exception is possession of 30 grams or less for personal use, which may avoid deportation. But anything that suggests sale, sharing, trafficking, or intent to distribute—even charged as a misdemeanor—can be treated as an aggravated felony under immigration law. That label shuts the door on most defenses to removal and can lead to fast deportation for a green-card holder.

How immigration encounters often occur

Immigration officers often discover old drug records when someone returns from a trip abroad. Customs and Border Protection runs checks as part of admission screening, and ICE can detain a returning resident and start removal based on decades-old marijuana convictions, even if the state of conviction later legalized cannabis.

• Analysis by VisaVerge.com indicates these encounters have risen as more travelers assume state legalization clears old risks, only to face federal standards at the airport.
• Medical use brings no protection: under federal rules, there is no difference between medical and recreational marijuana for immigration purposes.

USCIS may also deny a citizenship application on “good moral character” grounds when it sees marijuana-related convictions, admitted use, or work in the cannabis industry. The agency’s policy guidance on controlled substances and good moral character is posted on the USCIS website and explains how drug activity can block naturalization, even in states that permit marijuana. See: https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-f-chapter-5

Risks for nonimmigrant visa holders and entrants

The stakes are high for students, workers, and visitors as well.

• A marijuana conviction—or even an admission of use during interviews—can lead to visa revocation, denial of future visas, or denial of entry at the border.
• For both residents and visitors, federal screening treats cannabis as a disqualifying drug, regardless of state law.

In early 2025, multiple cases showed how far the federal rule reaches. For example, Fabian Schmidt, a German national and long-time U.S. resident, was detained in March 2025 at Boston’s Logan Airport based on a 2016 misdemeanor cannabis possession case that California later dismissed after legalization. He was still held while officers reviewed the record and applied federal standards. Similar holds were reported at airports across the country in the first half of 2025.

The Canton case fits this pattern. The resident had lived in the United States 🇺🇸 for years but was stopped over a marijuana conviction so old the underlying state now allows cannabis sales. Family members described panic as the clock ticked without clear answers. Advocates say such scenes have become common, with long-term residents suddenly facing removal for conduct that state voters or legislatures no longer treat as a crime.

Human impact and the legal process

When ICE begins a case based on a marijuana conviction, it typically follows this process:

1. Serve a Notice to Appear in immigration court.
2. Possibly detain the person (especially after an airport referral).
3. Move to a hearing where the government must show deportability by clear and convincing evidence—usually the certified conviction record.

The person’s available options depend on the exact statute of conviction and the sentence imposed.

• Some long-time residents can request Cancellation of Removal, a discretionary relief for certain green-card holders who can show continuous residence, family hardship, and rehabilitation.
• That option is unavailable to those whose record qualifies as an aggravated felony.
• Many state marijuana sale/distribution statutes can be treated as aggravated felonies under immigration law—even if labeled a misdemeanor by the state.

Important note: the state label of a conviction does not control immigration consequences; the immigration statute does.

Additional legal pitfalls

Immigration attorneys warn of several other risks:

• A sworn admission of past marijuana use can cause trouble in naturalization interviews or at the border—even without a conviction.
• Employment or investment in a state-legal cannabis business can create immigration problems.
• USCIS officers reviewing citizenship applications may find such conduct undermines the required showing of good moral character for the statutory period, and in some instances, beyond it.

For families, the fallout is immediate and practical:

• Detention can separate parents from children and interrupt jobs, schooling, and medical care.
• Travel plans become risky: a green-card holder with a marijuana conviction who boards a plane may return to a locked door at primary inspection, then a transfer to a distant detention center.
• Bonds can be hard to secure in drug cases, and hearings may take weeks or months.

Advocates point to the 1996 immigration law overhaul that made many drug convictions, including marijuana, a basis for deportation. Defense lawyers were not required to warn clients about immigration consequences until a 2010 Supreme Court decision made such warnings part of effective assistance. Many long-time residents with older convictions say they never heard how a plea could trigger removal years later.

Current legal landscape (as of August 2025)

• More than 40 states allow some form of medical marijuana.
• About two dozen states allow recreational use.
• Despite state reforms, these changes do not affect deportability or eligibility for citizenship at the federal level.
• Efforts to align immigration policy with state laws have not produced an official shift in 2025.
• DHS, USCIS, and CBP continue to apply the same federal marijuana standard across all states and ports of entry.

Practical advice from crimmigration lawyers

• Do not travel internationally if you have any marijuana-related conviction, no matter how old or minor.
• Talk to an experienced immigration attorney before filing for naturalization if you have any history of marijuana use, conviction, or cannabis-industry work.
• Avoid employment, investment, or licensing in the cannabis sector unless and until you are a U.S. citizen.

People already in proceedings should gather the following documents and evidence:

• Certified court records of convictions
• Proof of rehabilitation
• Evidence of family hardship

Where possible, post-conviction relief in criminal court may help, but it must meet strict immigration standards to erase the immigration impact. Vacating a conviction for reasons tied to legal error can matter; clearing a record for reasons like rehabilitation often does not.

“The federal-player rule remains: what state law permits, federal immigration law can still use as grounds for removal.”

Status of the Canton case

For the Canton family, release after 10 days brought relief, but the case is not over. The immigration court process will determine whether the old marijuana conviction fits a deportable category and whether any relief is available. While the resident waits, the larger tension persists: a country that treats cannabis one way under state law and another under federal immigration law, with green-card holders caught in the middle.