In today’s troubling immigration climate, being undocumented, or without immigration status in the United States, can be a frightening predicament. If you or someone you care about is going through legal removal – or deportation – proceedings, there are several defenses for you and your experienced legal counsel to consider.
Not Removable as Charged
Asserting that you are not removable as charged is usually the first step in defending against removal. If you are, indeed, undocumented, you most likely are removable, but it can happen that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has charged you with removability based on the wrong reasons or that DHS won’t be able to present the necessary documents to conclude that you are, indeed, removable. Once you contest – or deny – your charges of removability, the burden of showing removability rests with the DHS. An experienced immigration lawyer is essential to navigating this complicated process.
Requesting Relief
Even if you are deemed removable by the Immigration Judge (IJ), there are several kinds of relief that might be available:
- Adjustment of status is a process that can change your status from nonimmigrant to immigrant, which will allow you legal status in the United States; it is usually necessary that you entered the U.S. legally for this to apply.
- Asylum provides expanded protections for you if you are fleeing persecution or you are in fear of future persecution in your homeland.
- Withholding of removal is much like asylum but offers fewer privileges because it demands the lesser burden of showing that it is more likely than not that you would be persecuted upon return to your homeland.
- Protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) provides protection only if it is more likely than not that you would be tortured – for any reason – upon return to your homeland; like withholding, this protection is more limited in scope. There are also protections provided by the Cancellation under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
- Cancellation of removal for persons who are not lawful permanent residents provides the opportunity to obtain a green card if you can prove that you’ve had ten years of physical presence in the States and that your removal would cause exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to your qualifying relative – who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
- Voluntary Departure can provide you with the end-of-the-road protection of leaving the U.S. without tainting your record with an order of removal, which can make any return to the U.S. even more difficult.
- Deferred action provides you with the opportunity to put your case on hold, which neither provides you with legal status nor removes you.
- Prosecutorial discretion is a decision made by the DHS to stop attempting to deport you, and it may allow you the ability to apply for work authorization (at a maximum).
Dealing with removal or deportation in any capacity is highly stressful and complicated, but help is available. A skilled immigration attorney with experience staying deportation can help to keep you in the United States, the country that you would like to call home.
Contact an Experienced New Jersey Immigration Lawyer Today
If you are facing deportation, seek immediate counsel from an experienced immigration lawyer. The experienced immigration attorneys at Maduabum Law Firm, LLC are skilled in deportation defense and are committed to defending you and yours from deportation. Call 973-732-1490 to schedule your free consultation today.
