Deportation of Permanent Residents

Thanks captopril

amen to that...

It'll help him/her in the process...

let's hope so...

Okay, when I first read the title of this thread I was frightened: "Deportation of Permanent Residents." I mean, the law should provide more options for green card holders at least, not treat them pretty much the same way as temporary visa holders are to be treated.

Does the monitor of this list know that some of the posters are putting recipes for murder in their sign on names?? Perhaps the Department of Justice would be interested.

Does the monitor of this list know that some of the posters are putting recipes for murder in their sign on names?? Perhaps the Department of Justice would be interested.We will see.

soccio, just because the maximum penalty for the shoplifting charge is one year, it does not mean that the person receives a jail sentence of one year or more (suspended or not,) the one that would render him/her deportable. You have to look carefully at the court papers as to what kind of sentencing your friend has been given.

don't be ridiculeous, M.D. associating the names of some posters with "recipe for murder", unless of course you're referring to your own gedankenblitzes....

count me out!

"Permanent" does not always mean "forever." Remaining a "permanent" resident in the United States carries with it hidden risks. Many immigrants do not realize that permanent residents may, under certain circumstances, be stripped of their right to remain in the United States, and removed to their home countries, or refused entry to the United States upon return from abroad.

Due to changes in immigration laws which occurred in 1996, many permanent residents convicted of crimes that are classified as "aggravated felonies" since coming to the United States became subject to removal (the new term for deportation) even if they have served their sentences. The INS definition of "aggravated felony" includes many non-violent crimes, e.g., shoplifting and check kiting. The law also was made retroactive, so long-term permanent residents who have criminal histories, even from decades ago, can be deported. In addition, the far-reaching 1996 laws severely limited the ability of immigration judges to prevent deportation to permanent residents facing removal under such circumstances, even if their spouse, parents or children are U.S. citizens.

The same crimes that make a permanent resident "deportable" can also result in an unexpected refusal of permission to enter the country when returning from a trip abroad. For example, in 1997, a permanent resident was returning from a visit to his home country, the Dominican Republic, when INS agents realized that in 1974, at the age of 19, he had consensual sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend and had been arrested for statutory rape. The permanent resident, who had no other criminal history, had received 1 year of probation on the rape conviction in 1974. Under the new laws, however, the INS considered it a serious enough crime to keep him from returning to the United States. He spent six months in an immigration prison and although a judge later dismissed his immigration case, the judge was in no way required by the law to do so.

It looks like the only way to be protected from deportation (based upon commission of crimes) is to be an United States citizen.

You bet!

...actually there was at least one case of an USC being removed (a homeless black man) who couldn't prove his U.S. citizenship after a petty drug crime (he's been returned after spending several months in an open police cell in Jamaica and plenty of media coverage....)

But that only happened because the Afr.-Amer. guy could not prove that he was American. I guess these aliens becoming American citizens will have a house by then where they can keep their naturalization papers and so on.