Federal immigration authorities can deport a person who is in the United States illegally and is convicted of a crime where the sentence is for 365 days or more. A new law, H.B 244, sponsored by Rep. Eric Hutchings and signed by Gov. Gary Herbert, changed the penalty for a class A misdemeanor from a maximum of 365 days to a maximum of 364 days.
Utah has three classes of misdemeanors, with class A misdemeanors being the most serious. For more than 40 years, the maximum jail time for a class A misdemeanor has been 365 days.