What do the terms deportation and removal mean?
- Deportation and removal are often used interchangeably because they essentially are referring to the same concept. When people refer to deportation or removal, they mean that a person is in the United States and may be required to leave the country and sometimes actually physically taken out of the U.S.
- The word “deportation” was replaced with the word “removal” in 1996 in immigration laws.
- Individuals who entered the United States without permission and have been caught by immigration or who presented themselves to immigration at or near the border are often in removal proceedings, meaning they are required to appear before a judge.
- An individual can be ordered removed (formerly “deported”) by a judge or, in certain circumstances, by an officer of Customs and Border Protection.
What are “removal proceedings?”
- Removal proceedings take place in an immigration court in front of an immigration judge.
- Removal proceedings are civil, not criminal proceedings. The result of this is that an immigrant does not have the right to a free, appointed attorney. However, all immigrants in removal proceedings have the right to have an attorney.
- Immigrants who are in removal proceedings are called “respondents” by the court.
- The prosecutors are attorneys who work for the Department of Homeland Security.
- In removal proceedings the government prosecutor may try to demonstrate that the immigrant respondent should be ordered removed from the U.S.
- Judges ask respondents for their “relief.” “Relief” refers to any application for legal status for which the immigrant may be eligible.
- Immigrants who are eligible to acquire legal status often may, and should, submit their applications for legal status to the judge.
How do I confirm when I am supposed to appear in court?
- The first document created to initiate removal proceedings is a Notice to Appear. If it contains a court date and location, the immigrant must appear then and there.
- Dates can, and often do, change. At any time, individuals who are in removal proceedings may receive a document called a Notice of Hearing with a new or future court date.
- Individuals in removal proceedings are required to give Form EOIR-33/IC to the immigration court when they change their address. Failure to do this may result in being ordered removed because the notice with the hearing date will be mailed by the court to whatever address they last have on file.
- Always use your alien registration number (“A number”) to confirm your next court date by phone or online. Call 1-800-898-7180 or visit https://acis.eoir.justice.gov/en/.
Should and can I go to court without an attorney?
- Yes. Anyone who does not appear in court at their scheduled time may be ordered removed from the U.S. This is very common. You are required to go to your immigration court hearings to avoid this serious consequence.
- If you do not attend an immigration court hearing for your case, and you are ordered removed in your absence, you may not get another chance in the future to legalize your status.
- Every individual in immigration court, like other kinds of courts, may ask for a continuance at any time. This is simply asking the judge for more time, such as more time to find and hire an attorney.
What can I do in court to avoid being ordered removed or deported?
- There are several potential outcomes to a removal case: a removal order, administrative closure, termination, approval of a waiver, or a grant of legal status.
- Those who do not want, or cannot get, their cases “closed” or matters legally terminated must, in general, be approved for legal status by an immigration judge in order to avoid removal.
- Individuals may apply for many different kinds of legal status in immigration court and let the judge decide. Examples include asylum, protection under Article III of the Convention Against Torture, Cancellation of Removal (for undocumented individuals), adjustment of status, etc.
What is Cancellation of Removal?
- There are three kinds of “cancellation” applications: those for permanent residents with immigration issues, such as criminal convictions; those for undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S. for ten years or more, and those for abused spouses of U.S. citizens or U.S. residents.
- Eligible individuals in removal proceedings can apply to either maintain or gain permanent residency in the U.S.
- These types of applications may ONLY be filed with an immigration judge. No one can apply unless they are in court proceedings.
- For undocumented individuals, more than 10 years of physical presence is required; the immigrant must also prove that he or she has no disqualifying crimes, good moral character and that a qualifying family member would suffer in an extraordinary way upon the immigrant’s removal from the U.S.
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