Straight Talk – Post 9/11 – Reform and Deportation

Post-9/11 Reform

On March 1, 2003, the Department of Homeland Security opened, replacing the INS.  The Bush Administration had designed the Department of Homeland Security to foster increased intelligence sharing and dialoging between agencies responsible for responding to domestic emergencies, such as natural disasters and domestic terrorism.  Within the Department, three different agencies – U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement (CBE), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – now handle the duties formerly held by the INS.  Currently, the CBE handles the INS’s border patrol duties, USCIS handles the INS’s naturalization, asylum, and permanent residence functions, and ICE handles the INS’s deportation, intelligence, and investigatory functions.

Deportation

Deportation refers to the official removal of an alien from the United States.  The U.S. government can initiate deportation proceedings against aliens admitted under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that commit an aggravated felony within the United States after being admitted.  An alien’s failure to register a change of address can render the alien deportable, unless the failure resulted from an excusable circumstance or mistake.  If the government determines that a particular alien gained entry into the country through the use of a falsified document or otherwise fraudulent means, the government has the grounds to deport.

Other common grounds for deportation include the following: aiding or encouraging another alien to enter the country illegally; engaging in marriage fraud to gain U.S. admission; participating in an activity that threatens US national security; voting unlawfully; and failing to update the government with a residential address every three months, regardless of whether the address has changed.  The last of these policies served as grounds for the government to deport 2,000 Pakistanis following the September 11th attacks.

If the government brings a proceeding for deportation because of fraud or falsification, the government bears the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that alleged falsification or fraud occurred and that the falsification or fraud proved material to the granting of admission to the alien.  Upon such proof, the government has established a rebuttable presumption that the alien gained admission through material falsification or fraud.  To rebut the presumption, the alien must demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that admission would have been granted even without the falsification or fraud.

ECI

US Immigration Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram
Chris M. Ingram LL.M., ESQ – Immigration Attorney
Admitted in New York.
Practice Specializing in US Immigration Law
401 Wilshire, 12th Floor
Santa Monica,
California 90401
Tel: 310 496 4292