Deportation Lawyer in Los Angeles: Immigration Court Defense

What to Do After Receiving a Notice to Appear

A Notice to Appear, often called an NTA, lists the government’s allegations and the legal grounds it claims make you removable. It is not the same as a final removal order.

Read every page. Keep the envelope and make copies. An NTA may not contain complete hearing information, so review later hearing notices and check your case through the immigration court’s official system.

Protect Your Hearing Dates and Contact Information

Attend every required hearing unless the court excuses your appearance. Missing a hearing can lead to a removal order in your absence. Do not assume a pending application, a lawyer consultation, or a request to change the hearing cancels your obligation to attend.

Follow the court’s address-change requirements. Updating your address with USCIS or the Postal Service does not automatically update immigration court records.

File Form EOIR-33/IC within five working days of a contact-information change or receipt of a charging document with incorrect contact information. Follow the form’s filing and DHS service instructions; a separate form is needed for each affected person with a pending court case. Cases before the BIA use Form EOIR-33/BIA.

Check EOIR’s Automated Case Information system and your court notices. Online information is incomplete and does not replace official notices. Confirm the hearing location and appearance instructions with the court or your attorney if anything is unclear.

Prepare for a Case Review

Gather your NTA, hearing notices, immigration applications, passports, prior orders, and any arrest or court records. Tell your immigration court lawyer about every entry, departure, prior application, and encounter with immigration authorities.

An arrest does not automatically mean you have no defense. However, criminal charges and convictions can affect eligibility, detention, and the options available to you. Complete records are essential.

ICE Detention and Bond Hearings

If a loved one is detained, find their location and collect their full name, date of birth, and immigration identification number, if known. Keep track of transfers and any scheduled hearings.

Some detained people may request release through an immigration judge’s bond hearing. Others fall under rules that limit or prevent that type of review. Eligibility depends on how the person entered, their immigration history, criminal history, and the legal basis for detention.

Detention rules and court orders can affect access to a bond hearing. A review should identify the detention statute, the court with authority, and any controlling litigation or orders that apply to the person. Do not assume everyone detained by ICE can obtain immigration judge bond review. Learn about our immigration detention and habeas corpus review.

What Happens at a Bond Hearing?

When a bond hearing is available, the judge considers the applicable legal standards, including concerns about danger and whether the person will attend future proceedings.

Helpful records may include a stable address, family ties, employment history, support letters, and a plan for attending hearings. Evidence should address the concerns in the individual case.

A bond decision is separate from the removal case. Release does not end proceedings, and the person must continue meeting court obligations. An attorney can also review whether a bond appeal or another lawful challenge to detention is available.

Possible Defenses in Immigration Court

A removal defense attorney first reviews whether the government can establish the charges and whether you qualify for relief. There is no single defense that fits everyone.

Asylum and Other Protection

Asylum may be available to people who meet the legal requirements involving persecution connected to a protected ground. Filing deadlines, prior applications, criminal history, and other bars can affect eligibility.

Withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture have different requirements and limits. These forms of protection should be reviewed separately.

The place of filing, applicable deadlines, and any current eligibility restrictions depend on the person’s history and proceedings. Review EOIR’s protection overview and obtain advice about the rules that apply to your case.

Cancellation of Removal

Cancellation of removal has separate rules for lawful permanent residents and certain people who are not permanent residents.

For some nonpermanent residents, the case involves required physical presence, good moral character, criminal-history restrictions, and exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to a qualifying U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse, parent, or child.

That hardship standard differs from the extreme hardship standard used for certain waivers. Long residence or having U.S. citizen children does not establish eligibility by itself.

Adjustment of Status

Some people may qualify to apply for a green card while in the United States. An approved family petition may help, but it does not automatically resolve removal proceedings.

Your entry history, visa availability, admissibility, and which agency has authority over the application all matter. The court case and green card plan need to be coordinated.

Waivers and Other Options

Certain grounds of inadmissibility may have a waiver. Others may not. A waiver’s qualifying relatives, evidence requirements, and filing location depend on the specific law.

If consular processing may be part of your plan, read our I-601A waiver page. A provisional waiver does not itself protect you from removal or end immigration court proceedings.

BIA Appeals and Ninth Circuit Petitions for Review

An unfavorable immigration judge decision may be reviewable by the Board of Immigration Appeals, or BIA. Appeals have strict deadlines and filing requirements. Preserve the written decision, hearing records, and documents submitted in court.

EOIR’s appeal instructions state that Form EOIR-26 must generally reach the BIA within 30 calendar days of the immigration judge’s oral decision or the mailing of a written decision. Review the decision immediately, including whether appeal was reserved or waived. Use current form, fee, fee-waiver, and filing instructions. Stay protection depends on the type of decision and a properly filed appeal; do not assume every appeal stops removal.

A BIA appeal identifies legal or factual errors supported by the record. It is generally not a new hearing where you freely add evidence.

After a final agency decision, a Ninth Circuit petition for review may be available in an appropriate case. Federal court review has its own jurisdictional limits and deadlines. Filing a petition does not automatically stop removal; a separate stay request may be needed.

The applicable final order and the date that starts the federal filing deadline must be identified carefully, especially in reinstatement and withholding-only matters. Review the Ninth Circuit’s immigration resources and current rules promptly. A motion to reopen does not extend the deadline to seek review of the original order.

Motions to Reopen Immigration Cases

A motion to reopen asks the immigration judge or BIA to consider reopening proceedings, often based on new facts supported by evidence. A motion to reconsider addresses claimed errors of law or fact in a prior decision.

Time and number limits often apply, with exceptions that depend on the case. Missing notice, changed country conditions, and certain claims involving prior representation may require different analysis.

Filing a motion does not always stop removal. Have an attorney review the order, deadline, evidence, and whether a stay is needed.

Frequently Asked Questions