There are some cases in which a person doesn’t qualify for a bond—possibly because he or she has just arrived in the United States, or it may be that they qualify under one of many exceptions. There are some people that generally don’t qualify for a bond, either because they have any criminal convictions, or because they cannot prove that they are not a flight risk. In cases when a person doesn’t qualify for a bond, we may work directly with the deportation officer to grant something that is called parole. Parole is something that allows someone to go free while their case is pending. Sometimes they have to report themselves every month to a certain place, or they put an electronic monitor on their ankle. At least that’s a way they can go free while their immigration case is pending.

At a removal proceeding, the first thing that we do is determine whether the person is removable or not. Not everyone that the government says is removable is actually removable. I’ve had cases in which the government is charging someone with removability, and after we are able to show the judge what the law says, the judge agrees with us that the person is not removable. That’s the first thing which needs to be done. You don’t take the facts in the NTA as actually being facts. What we do is we have to examine each of the charges by the government, to make sure that they are accurate. If they are not, then we can ask the judge to terminate removal proceedings. If we are able to convince a judge that the termination is proper, what happens is that the removal proceedings are terminated, the case is removed from the Judge’s list of cases, and the client gets their green card back.

In some other cases, where we are not able to show that a government is wrong, then what we have to do is show the judge that the client qualifies for some kind of immigration relief. If someone has been in the United States for a long time, and they have spouses or children here, we may be able to ask the judge to approve a Cancellation of Removal. In some other cases, we may be able to apply for asylum or adjustment of status. However, every case is different. If you are not able to show the judge that this case should be terminated, then we have to show the judge what kind of immigration relief this person qualifies for to be able to remain legally in the United States.

In order to stop removal proceedings, we can either show that the person is not removable, because the government doesn’t have their facts right, or we examine the law to determine whether there is any immigration relief for which the person qualifies. Normally the main kinds of relief are cancellation of removal, asylum, and adjustment of status. There are waivers that can be requested in immigration court. The best way to get removal proceedings terminated is if we are able to show that our client is a United States citizen, because there are people out there that are citizens and don’t know it. How can someone be a United States citizen and not know? They may have derived citizenship directly from their parents. Based on the immigration laws of the United States, a parent may be able to give citizenship to a child, if either parent is a United States citizen before the child turns 18, and the child is in the United States as a resident living with the father. Additionally, if a United States citizen has a child outside the United States, that child becomes a citizen immediately. There have been some cases in which the government has been trying to deport someone, and we have been able to determine that the person is actually a United States citizen. Since citizens cannot be deported, at that we request for that case to be terminated based on our client’s citizenship.

There are two types of cancellation of removal. There is cancellation of removal for Legal Permanent Residents, and there is cancellation of removal for non-Legal Permanent Residents. In the cancellation of removal for Legal Permanent Residents, we have to show that the person has been a resident for more than 7 years. We have to show to the judge that the person has been rehabilitated, and they should be given another chance to remain in the United States. We can also show family ties with the United States—relatives, spouses, or children—and they have become a productive member of society by paying their taxes.

If we can show this, then we can get the judge to give this client a second chance. With regards to non-Legal Permanent Resident cancellation of removal, it is a little bit harder. You have to show that the person has been in the United States for over 10 years, and that the person is of good moral character that has not been convicted of serious crimes. The hardest thing to show is that this person has qualifying relatives, such as spouses, children, or parents that are going to suffer extreme and unusual hardship if this person is deported. Those are the main ways to obtain cancellation of removal.