Immigration Law Is All About Family

Requesting relief from removal proceedings in immigration court

On Behalf of | Nov 13, 2019 | Removal Defense

Many people in Colorado live in constant fear of deportation. They may have been brought into the country as children or may have escaped their countries for various reasons as adults. As the Trump administration cracks down on attempts to stem illegal immigration and limit even legal chain migration among families, the stability of the lives migrants created in America is under threat.

When immigrants face deportation orders, they may believe they are at the end of the road. This is not always true. It is sometimes possible to request relief from deportation. In fact, just this September, CNN reported that USCIS planned to reopen some of the cases regarding deportation deferral that had been left in pending status for some time.

This followed an earlier decision by the agency to no longer accept non-military requests for deferred action. USCIS sent this decision out in the mail to family members who had applied. Not surprisingly, the decision to reopen cases after this assertion puzzled many people but was a welcome change for migrants and their families.

The USCIS website states that immigrants requesting relief or protection must carefully follow the instructions provided by the government’s attorney. These instructions help USCIS to successfully complete security and background checks, the results of which may affect the eligibility of the individual applying. Immigration judges are reportedly prohibited from making decisions on cases until the checks are completed.

If a judge does grant relief, migrants then follow another set of steps to obtain the correct documents. These may show the person’s updated immigration status as well as authorization for employment in America. Updated documents may allow families the opportunity to pursue more permanent forms of residency in the future. However, this is not guaranteed.