What is deportation defense?
Deportation defense is legal representation for someone the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has placed in removal proceedings. A deportation defense lawyer answers the government’s case and asks for the relief the law allows. The law now calls deportation “removal.” An immigration judge hears the case in a court run by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), part of the Department of Justice.
It is a civil case, not a criminal one. A DHS attorney, usually from ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, presents the government’s side. You, or your immigration court lawyer, then answer the charges. The judge decides two questions: whether you are removable, and whether you qualify to stay anyway.
Many people in proceedings have lived here for years, with work, children in school and a home. A removal case does not erase any of that. Instead, it puts that life in front of a judge, and the work is to present it properly and in the right legal form.
How does a removal case start?
A removal case starts when DHS files a Notice to Appear, Form I-862, with the immigration court. The notice states who the government says you are and how it says you entered or what status you held. It also lists the sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act that it says make you removable.
Different parts of DHS issue these notices. USCIS issues them after denying some applications, such as an affirmative asylum claim or a petition to remove conditions on residence. ICE and CBP issue them in other circumstances. However the notice reached you, the first task is to read the factual allegations closely. They are not always correct, and a wrong date or a wrong description of your entry can matter a great deal later.
Some notices list a hearing date and time; others say only that the court will set one. Either way, the court sends its own hearing notice, and the court’s notice is the one to follow.
Sometimes ICE detains a person when the case begins. In that situation, the first step is usually a request for release. The immigration bond hearing page explains how a judge decides whether to set bond, and in what amount.
What does a deportation defense lawyer do in immigration court?
A removal case moves through two kinds of hearing: short master calendar hearings, where the judge manages the case, and a longer individual hearing, where the judge takes evidence and decides it.
- Master calendar hearing The judge confirms your identity and address, explains your rights and, if you have no attorney yet, usually allows time to find one. Many courts hold these hearings by video.
- Pleadings You admit or deny the factual allegations, concede or contest the charge of removability, and tell the judge what relief you intend to seek.
- Applications and evidence Your attorney files the applications for relief, with supporting documents, by the deadlines the judge sets. USCIS takes fingerprints and photographs for background checks.
- Individual hearing You testify, witnesses may testify, and the DHS attorney cross-examines. The judge often rules at the end of the hearing, and sometimes later in writing.
Months or years can pass between those steps. Throughout, a deportation defense lawyer keeps the filings on schedule and prepares you for each hearing. The removal proceedings page covers each hearing in more detail, including what to bring and what the judge will ask.
What defenses and relief are available in removal proceedings?
There are two lines of defense in removal proceedings: challenging whether you are removable at all, and applying for relief that lets you stay even if you are. Most cases turn on the second, so a deportation defense lawyer will usually review every form of relief with you early.
- Contesting the charges DHS has to prove the charges. Where the notice gets the facts wrong, or a conviction does not fit the ground charged, the judge can terminate the case.
- Asylum, withholding and CAT protection These protect people who fear persecution or torture in the country of removal. Withholding of removal and Convention Against Torture protection have no one-year filing deadline, but they carry a higher standard of proof than asylum.
- Cancellation of removal Cancellation of removal is open to certain permanent residents and to certain long-term residents without status. For the second group, it turns on hardship to a US citizen or permanent resident family member.
- Adjustment of status Someone eligible for a green card, often through a US citizen spouse, parent or adult son or daughter, may be able to apply for it inside the removal case. Our guide for people who overstayed a visa and married a US citizen explains when that route is open.
- Waivers The law allows some grounds of removability to be waived, often on the strength of family ties in the United States.
- Voluntary departure Leaving by a date the judge sets, under INA § 240B, instead of receiving a removal order.
- Prosecutorial discretion DHS can agree to dismiss or pause a case. Its policy on doing so has changed repeatedly, so no case plan should depend on it.
Where does a case go after the judge decides?
Either side can appeal an immigration judge’s decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals. The appeal must reach the Board within 30 calendar days of the decision.
The deadline counts from the date of the decision, and the Board must receive the notice of appeal within it; mailing it on the last day is not enough. A timely appeal generally keeps a removal order from being carried out while the Board considers it. The BIA appeals page explains how that review works and what the Board can and cannot look at.
After the Board, the next step is a petition for review in the federal court of appeals. For cases heard in California, that court is the Ninth Circuit, where Ani Petrosyan is admitted to practice, and the petition is due 30 days after the Board’s decision. Separately, a motion to reopen can bring new facts back before the judge or the Board, within strict time and number limits.
What should you keep track of while a case is pending?
Three practical things protect a pending removal case. Keep a current address on file with the court, attend every hearing, and stay in the United States unless your removal defense attorney has confirmed that a trip is safe.
- Your address The court sends notices to the address it has on file. If you move, file Form EOIR-33 with the court within five days. A notice sent to an old address still counts against you.
- Your hearing dates EOIR’s online automated case information system shows the next hearing for your A-number. Courts move hearings, so check it regularly and keep every notice you receive.
- Travel Leaving the country while proceedings are pending can abandon your applications and create bars on returning. Ask before you book anything.
- Work authorization Some pending applications allow you to apply for an employment authorization document, including asylum after the required waiting period and cancellation of removal for non-permanent residents. Others do not.
None of this is complicated, but each item has ended cases that were otherwise strong. A missed hearing in particular can lead to an order entered in your absence, and undoing one takes a motion with its own proof requirements.
What does a deportation defense lawyer cost?
We quote deportation defense as a flat fee per matter, agreed in writing before any work begins. A removal case, a bond redetermination and an appeal each have their own quote. That way, you know what each stage costs before you decide to take it. The fee does not change because a court reschedules or the case takes longer than expected. That holds whether you need a deportation lawyer in Los Angeles, Glendale or elsewhere in the county.
The agency sets the government filing fees for applications made in court, and you pay them separately. The fees and consultations page gives the full picture of how the firm charges for each type of matter. The first consultation is free and takes about thirty minutes, in English, Armenian, Russian or Spanish.