How Permanent Residents and Non-Immigrants Can Avoid Deportation

Foreign nationals living in the United States can be deported for a number of reasons. Foreign nationals living in the United States fall under three broad categories namely permanent residents, legal residents who are non permanent residents (called non-immigrants) and the undocumented.

Get Naturalized Citizenship

Permanent residents who are eligible should seek United States citizens as soon as they can. Permanent residents who subsequently become United States citizens cannot be deported unless they made serious misrepresentations when applying for citizenship example lying about involvement in criminal activities.

Permanent residents who are convicted of certain criminal offenses such as fraud, drug possession, drug and weapon trafficking, rape, murder, manslaughter and a slew of other offences can be placed in deportation, have his or her permanent resident status taken away and be deported.

Avoid Criminal Conviction

One way for permanent residents to avoid such possibility is to stay clear of the criminal justice system i.e. do not commit any crimes. Permanent residents who end up facing criminal charges should immediately contract the services of an attorney who is knowledgeable about both immigration and criminal law. Quite often immigrants just are not aware of the immigration consequences of pleading guilty to certain offenses. Many only learn of the consequences after they are placed in deportation/exclusion proceeding. Here, the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure applies.

It is for this reason that states such as California and Indiana now requires that immigrants be told of the immigration consequences of a plea before their guilty pleas can be accepted by the court. Michigan does not now require any such warnings.

Old Crimes

It is quite common for immigrants to be placed in deportation proceedings for crimes that they committed long ago. It is therefore of utmost important for immigrants to always keep the immigration consequences of whatever crimes they are charged with before making any deals such as a plea bargain. Many times it is difficult or impossible to change the plea once it is made and the immigrant become aware of the possible immigration consequences. There are many heartbreaking cases where of permanent residents that came to the United States as children, committed crimes and are deported to their country of origin where they no longer have relatives or are familiar with.

Violation of Non-Immigrant Status Terms

Immigrants who are not permanent residents (also called non-immigrants) can also be placed in deportation if they violate the terms of their status e.g. a student working without authorization. Other examples of non-immigrants include H1B workers and H 2A –agricultural workers. A H2A agricultural worker can be placed in deportation proceeding for failing to return home country after his period of authorized stay had expired.

Undocumented Immigrants

The main group of persons who are subject to deportation consist of undocumented individuals. A person may become undocumented by entering the country without being inspected or by staying longer than the period for which they were authorized i.e. a tourist overstaying his tourist visa.

Hopefully, Congress will pass some kind of measure to help the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country. Meantime, Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) are eagerly searching for undocumented persons to deport.

Undocumented persons should try and stay away from the criminal justice system as much as possible. Involvement with the criminal justice system is one of the most common ways to get to the attention of ICE. Many jails are required to report the presence of undocumented persons who are behind their walls.

Undocumented persons have no obligation to reveal their lack of status to any police/immigration official. They should refuse to answer any questions from police/immigration officials with the possible exception of their names. Immigrants have no obligations to provide information to the police that can result in their deportation. Undocumented immigrants should refrain from carrying documents on their persons that can identify them as being a citizen of another country. Such documents can later be used to show that they are citizens of a particular country and thus can be sent back there.

Traffic Stops and Drivers License Issues

Another possible means of getting to the attention of the immigration authorities is by way of driving without a license. Many states refuse to give undocumented immigrants a driver’s license. Many need to drive in order to earn a living. If such persons need to drive then they should make sure that they observe the traffic laws by not speeding, by not changing lanes without signaling or having defective equipment on the vehicle. Such violations give police a legal reason to stop a vehicle. On stopping the vehicle, the officer will ask for a driver license, proof of registration and insurance. If the undocumented driver does not have a driver’s license, he can be arrested and charged with driving without a license. The police know many undocumented cannot now get driver’s licenses so they will immediately suspect that the person is undocumented. If the person admits that he is undocumented then the police can turn him over to the immigration authorities for deportation.

Remain Silent

If an undocumented person is questioned by a police/immigration official, it is better to invoke one’s right to remain silent and not to talk to the authorities. However, if he chooses to talk to the authorities, it is better not to lie to them. It is an offense within itself to lie to a federal official.

Guilty Pleas

Many undocumented persons who are facing criminal charges routinely plead guilty to the charges without seeking legal advice. This practice should be discontinued. There are options that an attorney can seek to avoid them having a criminal record such as having them placed on probation and if they successfully complete it then the charges would be dropped. An experienced criminal defense attorney can also fight the charges and have them reduce or dropped.

There are many situations where undocumented persons try to arrange their status through a family member. Some criminal convictions may prevent such persons from being able to legalize their status. It is for such reasons that getting proper legal advice is so important when an immigrant documented or undocumented is faced with a crime.

Searches

It should be noted that the immigration officials can only enter a person’s home with a warrant or with their consent. They should only be allowed in the house after they present a warrant that was duly issued by a court of law. The individual should not consent to immigration officials (ICE) entering his home nor should he answer their questions.

ICE

If ICE raids their place of employment, they should refuse to answer their questions and avoid having documents on their persons that identify them as citizens of another country.

Another option when being questioned by ICE personnel is to ask to consult with a lawyer before answering their questions or producing documents that they request. ICE cannot continue questioning the individual after he requests an attorney.

Immigration law is constantly changing. It is incumbent on persons with immigration problems to seek out the assistance of a knowledgeable immigration service provider to be informed of their rights and options.