Canadian pop star Justin Bieber may soon face felony charges for allegedly egging his neighbor’s mansion. On the small chance that Bieber is convicted, Bieber could face possible deportation because of a 1996 federal immigration law that makes felony convictions a deportable offense.

Bieber is in the United States on an O-1 visa, which is granted to people with “extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics.” He allegedly caused $20,000 worth of damage to his neighbor’s mansion, a vandalism charge upped to a felony because the damage exceeds $400. Because of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, immigrants who have criminal charges can be deported. But even if one were to chalk up the egging to a bad prank, Bieber also reportedly assaulted a man in the Hamptons last year, which is designated as an aggravated felony. Thanks to expensive lawyers, that charge didn’t stick and Bieber has never and probably will never see the inside of an immigration detention center.

Bieber’s possible deportation underscores a problem that 1,200 immigrants, including lawful permanent residents, experience every day. Some of those immigrants with similar felony charges and many more convicted of lower-level offenses, are deported and permanently banned from ever seeing their families. What’s more, less than one out of nine immigrants detained by local authorities on behalf of immigration enforcement officials have committed serious offenses.

Read more here: http://thinkprogress.org/immigration...s-deportation/