Deportation refers to the removal of a person or family from a country, usually involving confiscation of their property and transportation back to the place of origin. In Anglo-American law, the term is generally used to describe the expulsion of a foreign national from the United States on grounds of illegal immigration or other violations of immigration or federal laws governing immigration. The process can be accelerated by the issuance of a removal order by a US immigration judge or it may be delayed until the foreign national has been found to be inadmissible by a judge or by voluntary return to their home country.
Whether a person is subject to deportation depends on a variety of factors, including whether the individual entered the country illegally or overstayed their visa, whether they have committed a serious crime, or whether their presence in the United States causes undue hardship for U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents (green card holders). Some individuals who are subject to deportation can avoid removal by proving they have been in the United States legally and for at least 10 years, that they have good moral character, and that they will not cause extreme hardship to their family members in the United States.
For those who are subject to deportation, the earliest step in the process is to appear before an immigration judge to determine their status and to give them an opportunity to present evidence before the judge can issue a removal order. While they await this hearing, deportees are held in detention centers and are subject to a continuous stream of visits from ICE officers who check on their progress and often threaten to arrest them.
In recent decades, the number of people removed from the United States has risen dramatically. During the Obama administration, more than half of all deportations were of non-criminals. Deportations increased during the Bush administration and have continued to rise during the Trump administration.
Research shows that deportations have profound effects on families, especially children. In addition to the loss of parents and other loved ones, children who are the subject of a deportation often face a range of challenges that can include physical, emotional, and cognitive difficulties.
During the Obama administration, many states and local governments enacted policies that put a brake on DHS’s deportation activities, such as limiting the ability of local law enforcement to share information with ICE. These policy initiatives, along with other factors, helped to reduce DHS apprehensions and deportations toward the end of the second Obama term and during Trump’s first term. These findings are illustrated in SI Appendix, Fig S2.