BOSTON — The terms of a plea agreement Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson reached with federal prosecutors raises questions about whether her decision to plead guilty to two public corruption charges could get her deported.

Fernandes Anderson, 46, was born in Cape Verde, and at the age of 10, immigrated to Roxbury. She was the first African immigrant, Muslim American and formerly undocumented immigrant elected to the City Council, in November 2021.

The plea agreement states that by pleading guilty to two of the six public corruption charges that were lodged against her in a December 2024 federal indictment, Fernandes Anderson may be at risk of deportation from the United States.

“Defendant understands that, if defendant is not a United States citizen by birth, pleading guilty may affect defendant’s immigration status,” the federal court filing states. “Defendant agrees to plead guilty regardless of any potential immigration consequences, even if defendant’s plea results in automatically being removed from the United States.”

Fernandes Anderson said Tuesday that she intends to resign from her $120,000 position on the City Council. The prior indictment states that she carried out a bonus kickback scheme in a City Hall bathroom.

U.S. Attorney Leah Foley plans to recommend that Fernandes Anderson be sentenced to incarceration for a year and a day, to be followed by 36 months of supervised release, court records show.

Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, said that while it’s difficult to determine the likelihood of deportation without knowing the particulars of Fernandes Anderson’s immigration status, the charges she’s pleading guilty to open up the potential for her removal.

“If there are felony charges, yes, certainly, and this one is particularly serious because it’s of her position as a public official and her abuse of the public trust,” Vaughan told the Herald. “In addition to potentially criminal penalties, non-citizens often face the risk of deportation as a side effect. It’s not necessarily an additional penalty, per se, but it’s a consequence of them breaking the law.”

Fernandes Anderson is currently a U.S. citizen, according to Sabino Piemonte, head assistant registrar of voters for the Boston Election Department.

Piemonte said non-citizens can’t vote in Boston, and therefore, can’t run for local elected office, including on the City Council.

“You have to be a voter,” Piemonte told the Herald. “In order to be a voter, I believe you have to be a citizen.”

City Council candidates are required to sign a statement of candidacy that they are registered voters, he said.

In December 2023, the City Council approved a home rule petition that would allow for non-citizen voting in local elections.

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