- Aliens may be subject to exclusion or deportation if included into one or more of the statutory classes. Grounds for exclusion or deportation generally can be categorized as economic, criminal, moral, health related, or due to violation of immigration laws.
- Aliens seeking admission into the United States are subject to exclusion proceedings to determine whether they will be allowed to enter. If you have already entered, you are subject to deportation proceedings.
- Without express permission, an alien who has been excluded from the U.S. cannot re-enter for one year and an alien who has been deported cannot re-enter for five years. If you re-enter before the proper amount of time has passed and you have not received prior express permission to re-enter from the Immigration and Naturalization Service, you may be charged with a felony. If you are deported due to the commission of a crime, the penalty for re-entry without authorization may be much greater.
- Under current law, you can be deported and permanently excluded from the United States if you have ever committed fraud or willfully misrepresented a material fact in order to obtain a visa. Also, you can be deported or excluded from the U.S. forever, if you have ever been convicted of a crime related to narcotics or marijuana other than one incident of possession of a very small amount of marijuana.
- Pursuant to the Immigration Act of 1990, you may also be deported and permanently excluded if you have been convicted of an aggravated felony which now means murder, any illicit trafficking including firearms, money laundering, or any crime or violence for which a prison term of five years or more was imposed or any attempt or conspiracy to commit such an act. The new provision applies to offenses committed on or after November 29, 1990.
- For some grounds of exclusion or deportation, a waiver is available. Whether you are eligible for a waiver depends upon your current immigration status for which you are applying, the particular ground of exclusion or deportation alleged and whether you have immediate relatives who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.
- A common but false belief is that you cannot be deported if you are married to a U.S. citizen or have children who are citizens. These factors may make some relief from deportation or exclusion available. However, a close family relative who is a U.S. citizen will not necessarily keep you from being deported, especially if you have been convicted of drug related or other very serious crimes.
- There are various forms of relief from deportation and these include suspension of deportation, asylum, withholding of deportation, adjustment of status, registry, waiver of a deportable offense, and voluntary departure in lieu of deportation. The most common form is voluntary departure and may be granted by the immigration judge after an order of deportation for the purpose of allowing you to depart the United States voluntarily at your own expense and thereby avoid deportation.
- These issues are very technical and you should contact an attorney with your questions.
Deportation and Exclusion
This article was edited and reviewed by FindLaw Attorney Writers | Last reviewed March 26, 2008
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