What Happens if You Are Deported While Having Family in the U.S.?

What Does Deportation Mean to You and Your Family?

Deportation, even the threat of deportation,  is enormously stressful and is a life-altering experience that any immigrant living in the U.S. can face. Many individuals and, more importantly, families have everything in the United States, so the consequences can be devastating. In most cases, not only may you suffer, but when you’re deported, your spouse, children, and other loved ones who you leave behind are left to fend for themselves.

However, you need not go through this dire experience alone. Understanding what happens when you are deported while having a family is crucial so you can take the proper legal steps to protect your loved one’s well-being and consider your future legal options.

Deportation, known as “removal,” since 1996, is the formal Congressionally mandated process the U.S. government uses to order someone to leave the country because they violated immigration laws. Some of the most common reasons for removal include overstaying your visa, entering the U.S. unlawfully in the first place, committing specific crimes, violating the conditions of your lawful immigration status, and more.

Once you are deported, a set number of years will generally prevent you from reentering the country; usually 5, 10, or 20 years.  However, sometimes removal is a permanent ban to lawful immigration, depending on your unique circumstances. This is one of the main reasons that getting professional legal help to avoid your removal is critical.  The advice and guidance of a skilled, empathetic, and knowledgeable deportation defense lawyer could stop this from happening.

During the deportation process, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (aka ICE) can physically remove you from the U.S. and can send you back to your country of citizenship. If caught, usually an immigrant must demand a hearing to get released on bond or present a case.  For many immigrants, when this occurs, it not only means leaving the U.S. but also abandoning their children, spouse, and any extended family members who rely on them emotionally and financially.

It’s also critical that you know that deportation doesn’t automatically strip your family members of their immigration status or rights. However, your deportation will create significant challenges for families to stay connected and remain financially stable; one of the key reasons to get professional, well-versed, and tenacious legal guidance before your removal occurs.

What Could Be the Impact of Deportation on Your Loved Ones and Family?

The impact of your deportation and subsequent separation from your family too often has long-lasting emotional, psychological, and financial effects. For example, removal can create sudden financial hardship if you are the primary breadwinner. Your children may also lose emotional support and stability, face ridicule, or struggle in school due to the trauma that removal and separation cause.

Additionally, in “mixed status” families where some members are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents while others are undocumented or have temporary status, this demoralizing situation can be particularly complex. In almost all cases, children born in the U.S. are automatically U.S. citizens and have the right to remain in the country.

However, due to your removal, they may face challenging decisions if you, as their parent, want them to join you abroad or if they stay, though they could grow up without their natural parents. The uncertainty of what happens to them is unnerving!

Additionally, your spouse may need to find an altogether new means of support, navigate between being a single parent, while dealing with the emotional toll of family separation.

But, once again, if you act quickly enough, you may find legal options. For example, in some cases, U.S. citizen spouses can file petitions to try to eventually bring their deported partner back. However, this can be a long and legally complicated process, and the in-depth, empathetic advice and guidance of a deportation defense lawyer is more likely mandatory.

Under What General Conditions May My Family Stay in the U.S. After I’m Deported?

If you are deported, your family members can generally remain in the United States if they have legal and valid immigration status. Your spouse, children, or other loved ones who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents do not necessarily lose their status because of your deportation.
However, if they stay, some examples of the indirect challenges they may face are:

• Unstable financial support – If you are the primary wage earner, your family could require public assistance or seek new employment. This can disqualify any effort for them to petition you.
• Housing and educational instability – If income is lost, Housing and other necessities, such as education, may be at risk given recent extreme cuts in benefits.
• Severe psychological stress – Your children, especially, may need psychological counseling or support services to cope with your loss.

You should also note that if you’re deported, other undocumented family members could also be at risk of being deported. In many cases, other family members may be investigated, and if they have immigration issues, these could be discovered.

If this is possible, a skilled immigration defense lawyer should be contacted immediately. If some family members are at risk, they may choose to leave voluntarily even if there were options, while others find ways to work with their lawyer, then pursue all legal means to stay.

If you’re a family member in this situation, the critical thing to remember is to get reputable legal advice immediately. Your lawyer may have options to adjust status, apply for relief, consular process, and/or pursue waivers to help legally keep the family together within the U.S..

If I’m Deported, Are There Any Ways to Return to the U.S.?

Being deported doesn’t always mean you can never return. However, whether you can lawfully return to the U.S. depends on numerous factors, such as the reason for your deportation, your immigration history, whether you have a reentry bar, and whether there are grounds to seek a waiver.

Some of the more common paths to return may include:

• A waiver of Inadmissibility – Depending on the reason for your removal, you can apply for a waiver that removes the bar to reentry, but some are disqualified even if the application is accepted by the U.S.C.I.S.
• Family-based petitions – A valid U.S. citizen spouse or child over 21 can sometimes file an immigrant petition, which may require a waiver to help you process in the U.S. or lawfully return after consular processing.
• Humanitarian reasons and relief – In some instances, such as domestic violence or threats to safety in your home country, you may qualify for an immigration visa for humanitarian reasons.

The above are only a few ways a skilled, tenacious deportation defense lawyer may approach immigration’s complex processes and deadlines. These applications often require proving extreme hardship to your U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident relatives. The phrase “extreme hardship” is a legally defined standard also subject to discretion; so understanding immigration law is crucial.  However, time is not on your side, so you must have professional legal help before you are forced to leave the country; this is always in your and your family’s best interests.  It is more often too late after an Immigration Court orders removal.

I May Be Facing Deportation; How Should I Proceed?

If you’re a family member or the head of the family, facing deportation is one of the most difficult challenges any immigrant or U. S. citizen can experience. The stakes are incredibly high, and the immigration legal system is complicated, confusing, and unforgiving. Therefore, if you, or a family member, are at risk of deportation, it’s critical to act quickly, understand your rights, and have professional help; thoroughly explore every possible option to keep your family safe, secure, and together.

Most importantly, never attempt to fight this alone. Professional and passionate legal help too often makes a major difference in how your case turns out.

The experienced deportation defense lawyer at the Law Office of Kevin L. Dixler will work diligently to help you understand if you qualify for a waiver, a motion to reopen, or other relief options that can end the misery, bring you back to your family or protect them from further hardship.

Call our offices today at (312)-728-4610 to schedule a strategy session to address your unique situation. With over 30 years of immigration experience, our deportation defense lawyer has the experience and will work tirelessly to resolve this mission critical issue in the best possible way for you and your family.