Pleas: immigration advisement.

Senator Pérez's immigration advisement legislation mandates California courts to deliver a verbatim warning to non-citizen defendants about potential immigration consequences before accepting guilty or nolo contendere pleas. The measure modifies existing requirements by standardizing the exact language courts must use to inform defendants that convictions may result in deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization.

The bill establishes specific procedural safeguards for defendants considering pleas. Courts must grant additional time upon request for defendants to evaluate their plea decisions after receiving the immigration advisement. When courts fail to provide the required warning, defendants may move to vacate their pleas and enter not guilty pleas if they can demonstrate potential immigration consequences. The legislation creates a presumption that defendants did not receive the advisement when court records lack documentation of the warning.

For historical context, the bill addresses pleas accepted both before and after January 1, 1978. While maintaining courts' discretion to vacate judgments, it specifies that pre-1978 failures to provide immigration advisements do not automatically invalidate those pleas. The measure also explicitly prohibits courts from requiring defendants to disclose their immigration status during plea proceedings.