Among the most impactful proceedings that can arise for a person from another country who is in the U.S. are deportation proceedings. During such proceedings, formally known as the removal process, a person’s continued presence in the U.S. and their future hangs in the balance.
Now, individuals who have had deportation proceedings brought against them are not without options. There are certain kinds of relief they may be able to ask for. Experienced immigration attorneys can help individuals who are facing potential removal from U.S. understand what courses of action are available to them.
How common are deportations here in the U.S.? Recent federal statistics indicate that deportations of unauthorized immigrants are at pretty high levels. However, they also point to a trend of declining deportation levels starting to come up.
The 2014 fiscal year saw 414,481 such deportations here in America. This is up quite a bit from where deportation levels were at the beginning of the 21st century. In fiscal year 2001, there were well under 200,000 deportations.
However, deportations actually fell in 2014. They were down 5 percent from fiscal year 2013’s total. This is only the third decline the nation has seen since 2001. And fiscal year 2015 may have seen a continuation of this decline. At least this is what preliminary data is suggesting.
Changes in enforcement policies are among the things that may be contributors to the recent decline. What do you think will happen with deportation levels in the country in upcoming years?
Source: Pew Research Center, “U.S. immigrant deportations declined in 2014, but remain near record high,” Ana Gonzalez-Barrera and Jens Manuel Krogstad, Aug. 31, 2016