How Deportation Works: Process, Defenses & Appeals

Deportation, which federal law calls “removal,” is how the U.S. government forces a non-citizen to leave the country. Understanding how deportation works starts with one key fact: it’s a civil proceeding, not a criminal one, handled by an immigration judge inside the Department of Justice rather than by a regular court. The Department of Homeland Security files charges, the non-citizen gets a chance to respond and apply for relief, and the judge decides whether the person is removable and whether anything in the law lets them stay.

Who Can Be Deported

The reasons a non-citizen can be removed fall into two broad buckets: immigration violations and criminal conduct.

The immigration side is what most people picture. Overstaying a visa, breaking the conditions of a temporary status, or being in the country without authorization all make a person deportable. Entering without inspection — crossing the border without being processed by an immigration officer — is a separate ground and applies no matter how long the person has been here.¹

Criminal convictions can reach even lawful permanent residents who have been here for decades. A single conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude — a category that includes fraud, theft, and certain violent offenses — is a deportable ground if it was committed within five years of admission and carries a possible sentence of at least one year. Two such convictions at any time after admission, arising from separate incidents, are also enough.¹

The most severe criminal ground is an “aggravated felony,” which in immigration law is much broader than the name suggests. It covers murder, drug trafficking, sexual abuse of a minor, and fraud offenses where the loss exceeds $10,000, among many others.² An aggravated felony conviction eliminates most forms of relief from removal and permanently blocks a finding of good moral character for naturalization.³ Other grounds include marriage fraud, document fraud, alien smuggling, and national security concerns.¹

The Removal Process Step by Step

A removal case starts when DHS serves a Notice to Appear (NTA) on the non-citizen and files it with the immigration court. The NTA spells out the factual allegations and the specific legal grounds the government is relying on, functioning as the immigration equivalent of a criminal complaint.⁴

The first court date is a Master Calendar Hearing. It’s short. The judge confirms the charges, the person or their attorney admits or denies each factual allegation, and the judge asks whether any relief will be sought. If the case is contested or an application for relief is filed, the judge sets deadlines and schedules the next hearings.⁴

The case then moves to the Individual Merits Hearing, which functions as the trial. Both sides present evidence and testimony. The non-citizen argues for relief; the government argues for removal. The judge issues a final decision on removability and on any application for relief.

What Happens If You Miss a Hearing

Missing a hearing is one of the most damaging things a non-citizen can do in a removal case. If you fail to appear after receiving proper written notice, the judge can order you removed in your absence — an “in absentia” order — once the government proves by clear and convincing evidence that notice was provided and that you are removable.⁵ Your side of the story is not heard.

Reversing an in absentia order is difficult. There are two routes. You can file a motion to reopen within 180 days if exceptional circumstances beyond your control prevented you from attending — serious illness, domestic violence, or the death of a close family member. Everyday problems like transportation issues or work conflicts generally do not qualify. Separately, you can file a motion to reopen at any time if you never received proper notice of the hearing, or if you were in federal or state custody through no fault of your own.⁵

Update your address with the immigration court and DHS every time you move. If the court mails notice to your last address on file and you don’t receive it because you moved, the notice still counts as delivered.

Detention and Bond While Your Case Is Pending

Immigration and Customs Enforcement can hold a non-citizen in custody while removal proceedings are pending. Whether release on bond is possible depends on the reason for detention.

Some categories are subject to mandatory detention, meaning no immigration judge can set a bond. This includes non-citizens deportable for aggravated felonies, certain controlled substance offenses, firearms offenses, and terrorism-related activity, along with people inadmissible on criminal or security grounds. The category was expanded in 2025 to include people charged with or convicted of offenses like burglary, theft, shoplifting, and assault on a law enforcement officer.⁶

For everyone else, an immigration judge can set bond. The statutory minimum is $1,500, and judges regularly set bonds well above that.⁶ The judge weighs two things: whether the person is a flight risk and whether they are a danger to the community. Steady employment, family ties, no criminal history, and community roots all help.

Do You Get a Lawyer

You have the right to be represented in removal proceedings, but not at government expense. The statute states representation is “at no expense to the Government.”⁵ Because removal is civil, the Sixth Amendment right to appointed counsel does not apply. You hire your own attorney or you represent yourself.

Immigration judges are required to give you a list of free and low-cost legal service providers. Nonprofits and law school clinics take some cases pro bono, but demand outstrips supply. Represented non-citizens win relief at substantially higher rates than those who appear alone, particularly in asylum cases where the standards are technical and the evidence requirements demanding.

Ways to Stay in the U.S.

Being found removable does not automatically mean you leave. Immigration law offers several forms of relief, each with its own eligibility rules.

Cancellation of Removal for Green Card Holders

A lawful permanent resident can apply if they have held that status for at least five years, have lived continuously in the U.S. for at least seven years after being admitted in any status, and have no aggravated felony conviction.⁷ If granted, the case is cancelled and permanent resident status is preserved. The aggravated felony bar is absolute; no waiver exists.

Cancellation of Removal for Non-Permanent Residents

Non-permanent residents face a much harder standard. The requirements are ten years of continuous physical presence, good moral character throughout that period, no disqualifying criminal convictions, and proof that removal would cause “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship” to a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse, parent, or child.⁷ Hardship to the applicant alone does not count. Courts read the “exceptional and extremely unusual” standard as well above the ordinary disruption any deportation causes a family.

A grant adjusts the person to permanent resident status, but only 4,000 grants are available per fiscal year nationwide, so even qualifying applicants can wait years for a number.⁷

Asylum

Asylum is available for people with a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. The application generally must be filed within one year of arrival. Missing that deadline can be a permanent disqualification unless you can show changed circumstances in your country or extraordinary circumstances explaining the delay. Unaccompanied children are exempt from the one-year rule.⁸

Asylum applicants can apply for work authorization 150 days after filing and become eligible to receive a work permit once the application has been pending 180 days. Delays the applicant causes, such as continuance requests, do not count toward the clock.⁹

Withholding of Removal and CAT Protection

Two related protections cover people in serious danger who don’t qualify for asylum, often because of the one-year deadline or certain criminal bars.

Withholding of removal requires proving it is “more likely than not” that the person will face persecution on one of the five protected grounds. That is a higher standard than asylum’s well-founded fear. Withholding does not lead to permanent residence and does not allow international travel, but it blocks the government from sending the person to the specific country where they face danger.

Protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) is available where it is more likely than not that the person would be tortured by, or with the acquiescence of, a government official. CAT protection does not require a connection to any protected ground. It comes in two forms: withholding under CAT and deferral under CAT. Deferral is available even to people with aggravated felonies or other serious criminal bars, but it is the weakest form of protection and can be terminated at any time if conditions change.¹⁰ Neither form of CAT protection confers lawful immigration status.

Waivers of Inadmissibility

Some grounds can be overcome through waivers, which typically require showing extreme hardship to a qualifying U.S. citizen or permanent resident family member. Waivers are available for certain criminal and fraud-related grounds but not for aggravated felonies or terrorism. What’s available depends on the specific ground.

Voluntary Departure

Instead of accepting a removal order, some non-citizens negotiate voluntary departure — permission to leave the country on their own within a set deadline. The benefit is avoiding the formal removal order and the re-entry bars that come with it. The trade-off is giving up the right to fight the case further.

It can be granted at two stages. Before or during proceedings, the judge can allow up to 120 days to leave; eligibility is less demanding, but aggravated felony and terrorism grounds still disqualify, and the judge may require a bond. At the end of proceedings, the deadline shrinks to 60 days, and the applicant must have been physically present in the U.S. for at least one year before the NTA was served, have maintained good moral character for at least five years, have no disqualifying convictions, and prove the means and intent to leave. A bond is required at this stage.

Missing a voluntary departure deadline is harsh. You face a civil fine of up to $5,000 and become ineligible for ten years from cancellation of removal, adjustment of status, change of status, and voluntary departure itself.¹¹ Unlawful presence starts accumulating too, which triggers further re-entry bars. Treat the deadline as absolute.

If You Lose: Appeals and Deadlines

A ruling against you is not necessarily the end. The appeals path has multiple layers, all with strict deadlines.

The first stop is the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). File a Notice of Appeal (Form EOIR-26) within 30 calendar days of the judge’s decision, whether it was given orally or mailed. The BIA counts from the date it receives the filing, not the date you mailed it, so filing early matters.¹² The BIA can affirm, reverse, or send the case back for a new hearing.

A motion to reopen asks the immigration judge or the BIA to revisit the case based on new facts or evidence unavailable earlier. Generally, you get one motion, and it must be filed within 90 days of the final order. The limits don’t apply when the motion is based on changed country conditions in an asylum or torture protection claim, or when both parties jointly agree to reopen.¹³

After the BIA rules, you can seek review in a federal circuit court of appeals by filing a petition for review within 30 days. That deadline is jurisdictional: miss it and the court has no power to hear the case. Filing a motion to reopen with the BIA does not pause the 30-day clock. Federal courts review the BIA’s legal conclusions but generally defer to its factual findings.

What Happens After Removal

A final removal order triggers a re-entry bar. How long depends on the circumstances. It’s five years for non-citizens removed upon arrival or those present less than one year. It’s ten years for most others who are ordered removed. It’s twenty years for people removed after an aggravated felony conviction or removed more than once. The bars run from the date of departure and restrict not just physical re-entry but also visa applications and adjustment of status.¹⁴

Re-entering or attempting to re-enter without authorization after removal is a federal crime, not just a civil violation. The base penalty is up to two years in prison. If the prior removal followed three or more misdemeanors involving drugs or violence, or a non-aggravated felony, the maximum climbs to ten years. If the prior removal followed an aggravated felony, the maximum is twenty years.¹⁵ A person caught after illegal re-entry can also have the prior removal order reinstated without a new hearing, cutting off any chance to apply for relief.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1227 – Deportable Aliens
2
Legal Information Institute. 8 USC 1101(a)(43) – Definition of Aggravated Felony
3
USCIS. USCIS Policy Manual – Permanent Bars to Good Moral Character
4
United States Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review. The Notice to Appear
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1229a – Removal Proceedings
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1226 – Apprehension and Detention of Aliens
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1229b – Cancellation of Removal
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1158 – Asylum
9
USCIS. Applicant-Caused Delays in Adjudications of Asylum Applications and Impact on Employment Authorization
10
eCFR. 8 CFR 1208.17 – Deferral of Removal Under the Convention Against Torture
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1229c – Voluntary Departure
12
Executive Office for Immigration Review. EOIR Policy Manual – 3.5 – Appeal Deadlines
13
Executive Office for Immigration Review. EOIR Immigration Court Practice Manual – 4.7 – Motions to Reopen
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 – Inadmissible Aliens
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1326 – Reentry of Removed Aliens