Deportation is the involuntary removal from a country of someone who has been found to be present in that country without legal permission. It can have significant consequences for a person who is deported and may affect future immigration options as well. Often, a person who is deported must wait for some time before trying to return to the United States.
The term deportation has many different meanings and its actual definition can change over time, depending on the context. In Roman law, it meant banishing someone to another country (usually an island) as a punishment for crimes such as murder, adultery, poisoning, forgery and embezzlement. Over time, it has also been used to refer to the transportation of criminals from one country to another as part of the penal settlement practice that began in Europe in the 15th century.
Under the Trump Administration, the number of deportations has risen significantly as the government has increased workplace raids, started arresting noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens, and expanded who can be deported using expedited removal.
Deportation has serious implications for people in the United States who are undocumented, as well as their family members, friends and the communities they live in. Hundreds of thousands of children share homes with deported parents or other family members, and the threat of being subject to deportation can have serious emotional, developmental and financial consequences for those children.
The deportation process usually starts with an immigration judge reviewing the facts of your case and deciding whether the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has met its burden at a master hearing, in which it must prove that you are “deportable” — i.e., that you lack lawful immigration status or that you committed a crime listed in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that makes you deportable. If the judge decides that you are deportable, he or she will order you removed from the United States and will issue an order of removal.
If the judge does not order you deported at the master hearing, he or she will schedule another individual hearing for you to have a chance to discuss why you deserve to stay in the country and what type of relief you might be eligible for. Depending on your situation, this could include a claim of cancellation of removal or asylum.
You should always have a lawyer at your deportation hearing. An experienced attorney can help you defend against the government’s charges, including arguing that you do not pose a safety or security threat and should not be ordered removed from the United States. An attorney can also help you prepare and file your application for relief before an immigration judge, if appropriate in your case. Some relief from deportation is available to those who have lived in the United States for over 10 years and can show that their removal would cause “extreme hardship” to a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse, parent or child.