Deportation and Waivers

 

If the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has initiated removal proceedings against you, you will be issued a Notice to Appear (NTA) in Immigration Court where you will have to appear before an Immigration Judge to fight the charges that DHS brings against you, whether they are due to a violation of the conditions of your visa, failure to have proper documentation to validate your entry into the United States, fraud, criminal charges or others. Often, the NTA does not contain the location, or date and time of your next immigration hearing, however, you will receive the notice in the mail separately. Therefore, be sure to keep the Immigration Court updated with your mailing address at all times.

You will initially appear for a Master Calendar hearing, the first hearing during which the Judge accepts the plea that you or your attorney (if represented) takes with respect to the charges contained in the NTA. Your attorney will have to either admit or deny the facts (or allegations) brought by DHS leading to your violations of the immigration laws and contained in the NTA and admit or deny the charges of removability that are brought against you. If the attorney admits to the facts and to the charges, the attorney will then name the forms of relief available to you. There are multiple reliefs available to foreign nationals in proceedings:

  • Asylum and withholding of removal
  • Adjustment of status with or without a waiver of grounds of inadmissibility (for fraud or crimes)
  • Cancellation of removal for non-legal permanent resident, battered spouse
  • Cancellation of removal for legal permanent resident
  • 212(c) waiver
  • 237(a)(1)(H) waiver
  • NACARA
  • Removal of Conditions
  • Temporary Protected Status
  • Voluntary Departure
  • T, U or V status

The immigration laws surrounding the removal proceedings context are very specific and subject to various court interpretations. If you have been placed in removal proceedings, you should seriously consider hiring an attorney to fight the charges that have been brought against you and to seek any possible relief that may be available to you. You increase your chances of remaining in the United States by hiring an experienced immigration attorney who will help prepare your claim and fight your case before the Immigration Judge.

Maud Poudat, Esquire is an experienced attorney in the removal proceedings context and has successfully helped countless clients remain in the United States at the Immigration Judge level and the appellate level before the Board of Immigration Appeals. Since each case is unique, please be sure to contact our office so we can personally evaluate the facts of your case.