Most common grounds for removability are based on criminal convictions and overstay of your legal status. 

            Do Not Worry!  If you entered the United States legally, you are entitled to a court hearing before anything happens to you.  Even if you enter the country illegally, you may file for cancellation based on the duration of your stay in this country and hardship to your family.  Visa Waiver entrants also have a right to a court hearing if they file for asylum.

            Criminal Aliens are deportable if they commit crimes of moral turpitude (even if they have green cards.)  You are entitled to one shot of petty offense, however, if you apply for relief from deportation.  Crime of moral turpitude basically involves deceit, evil, and dishonesty, such as theft crimes, sexual crimes, and corruption crimes.  You are automatically deportable for any drug and domestic violence offenses.  Unless you commit aggravated felony, your chances are pretty high in beating the deportation proceedings.  If however you marry a U.S. citizen and apply for green card, you are still eligible to beat deportation even if you have an aggravated felony in your record (except drug crimes.)  What is an aggravated felony?  Covers crimes where punishment is greater than one year or violent crimes involving injuries. 

            Criminal aliens can cancel their deportation if they have been lawful permanent residents for five years and in status for seven years and can prove they are not convicted of aggravated felony.  Further, showing of extreme hardship to a U.S. citizen or green card holder spouse or children must be shown.

            If fear of persecution in your homeland is an issue upon your return, application for political asylum, withholding of removal, or convention against torture can be made to beat the deportation proceedings.

            You must seek the services of a criminal defense attorney who also specializes in immigration in order to beat deportation based on criminal convictions.  If nothing works, you have a right to attack your convictions based on ineffective assistance of counsel, new evidence showing your innocence or any defective procedure which would overturn your conviction.  Certain crimes are not even defined in federal law.  For example, California Burglary Crime may not fit the definition of a Federal Burglary Crime, which must result in termination of proceedings against you.  The technicality of these cases are extremely high and there is always a hole which a competent attorney should find and beat the deportation proceedings.

            Illegal Aliens can beat the deportation proceedings, even if they were deported before.   If you have no papers, but have been living in this country for ten years and your deportation would result in extreme hardship to your U.S. citizen or green card holder spouse or children, you will beat the deportation proceedings against you.

            Furthermore, if you filed for some kind of immigration papers prior to April 30, 2001 and have been present in December of 2000, you can file for green card based on work sponsorship, marriage to a U.S. citizen which will allow you to stay in this country.

            Based on the political conditions in your home country you can file for asylum.  You can file for asylum and buy time so that an application for other reliefs can also be made, of course every filing must be meritorious. 

           If you entered this country with a visa waiver and overstayed, you can still file for green card based on marriage to a U.S. Citizen or political asylum so that you are entitled to court hearing which can take years and years so you may prolong your stay here.

            Detention could be a problem to you.  Usually, the federal government does not detain you unless you commit crimes.  Even if you are detained, you can be bailed out.  If however you commit any drug crime or domestic violence crime, you are automatically not eligible for bond.  You are not eligible for bond if you have an aggravated felony conviction.  At a bond hearing you must show the good sides of your situation and personality.  You must show that you are not a flight risk or danger to community.

            The foregoing material was a rough capsule summary of the deportation world where you will find that an experienced and creative attorney can always find a way to beat the proceedings against you.  I am that attorney! 

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