She pleaded guilty to a drug charge. Then she visited Mexico not knowing she couldn’t return

Angela Hernandez, a Mexican citizen who had been a legal permanent resident of the U.S. for 19 years, pleaded guilty to two drug offenses in Kern County in 2013. She signed a form acknowledging the deportation consequences of a criminal conviction. Her attorney assured her of understanding the form, which stated that deportation was mandatory for some offenses. At her trial, there was no doubt that Hernandez had signed the form.

However, the California Supreme Court ruled that it is not sufficient to simply check a box acknowledging deportation. The defendant must "meaningfully understand" the legal consequences. The court found that Hernandez did not demonstrate a meaningful understanding when she sought and obtained permission to travel to Mexico two years after her conviction.

The court held that her actions supported the inference that she did not understand the immigration consequences of her plea. Consequently, the Supreme Court vacated Hernandez's convictions and sent the case back to trial court for a new hearing. Public defenders and immigration advocates had filed briefs arguing that California courts had inconsistent policies regarding notification of defendants about immigration-related consequences of guilty pleas.