Removal Defense: A Comprehensive Guide to Immigration Court Proceedings

89 questions on removal defense, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Are immigration judges Article III judges?
• Can a court of appeals review a hardship determination in a cancellation case?
• Can a credibility finding be overturned on appeal?
• Can a criminal-alien client obtain review of a CAT denial?
• Can a later hearing notice cure a defective NTA for stop-time purposes?
• Can an immigration judge require corroboration from a credible applicant?
• Did Campos-Chaves narrow the lack-of-notice ground for rescinding in absentia orders?
• Does a defective NTA require termination of removal proceedings?
• Does a suspended sentence count as a term of imprisonment for immigration purposes?
• Does vacating a criminal conviction eliminate it for immigration purposes?
• Do the Federal Rules of Evidence apply in immigration court?
• Do the Section 212(h) LPR bars apply to someone who adjusted status inside the United States?
• How can a defective NTA change the outcome of a cancellation case?
• How can an in absentia removal order be rescinded?
• How do asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection differ?
• How does the REAL ID Act treat credibility in immigration cases?
• How does the stop-time rule work for cancellation of removal?
• How does voluntary departure interact with a motion to reopen?
• How has the Supreme Court narrowed the aggravated felony definition?
• How low is the well-founded fear standard for asylum?
• How should a defense be layered in a strong removal case?
• How should an appellate argument in a removal case be framed?
• Is removal a criminal proceeding?
• Is there an automatic stay of removal during a petition for review?
• Is there a right to appointed counsel in immigration court?
• Is there a right to prosecutorial discretion in removal cases?
• On what grounds can removal proceedings be terminated?
• Should a respondent concede removability at the first hearing?
• Should a respondent designate a country of removal?
• What are the consequences of an aggravated felony conviction?
• What are the controlled-substance grounds of removal?
• What are the deadlines for a motion to reopen or reconsider?
• What are the recurring traps in removal defense?
• What are the requirements for cancellation of removal for non-permanent residents?
• What are the requirements for cancellation of removal for permanent residents?
• What are the ten things that decide removal cases?
• What are the three categories of relief from removal?
• What are the two CIMT deportability grounds?
• What are the two forms of voluntary departure?
• What counts as a conviction under the immigration laws?
• What criminal grounds trigger mandatory immigration detention?
• What did Descamps and Mathis decide about divisibility?
• What did Mellouli v. Lynch decide about state drug schedules?
• What did Patel v. Garland hold about reviewing factual findings?
• What did Pereira v. Sessions decide about defective Notices to Appear?
• What does Matter of Lozada require for an ineffective-assistance motion to reopen?
• What does the nexus requirement demand in an asylum case?
• What does the record in an individual merits hearing look like?
• What does the Section 212(h) waiver cover?
• What exceptions allow a late or successive motion to reopen?
• What factors govern an immigration bond decision?
• What happens at a master calendar hearing?
• What is a crime involving moral turpitude?
• What is administrative closure in immigration court?
• What is a Joseph hearing?
• What is a particular social group for asylum purposes?
• What is exceptional and extremely unusual hardship?
• What is the address obligation in removal proceedings?
• What is the Attorney General's certification power in immigration cases?
• What is the categorical approach?
• What is the deadline for a BIA appeal?
• What is the difference between discretionary and mandatory immigration detention?
• What is the difference between grounds of inadmissibility and grounds of deportability?
• What is the modified categorical approach, and when does it apply?
• What is the Pereida trap in the categorical approach?
• What is the petty offense exception to CIMT inadmissibility?
• What is the through-line of successful removal defense?
• What is the workflow for running a conviction through the categorical approach?
• What is VAWA cancellation of removal?
• What jurisdictional bars limit judicial review of removal orders?
• What must a Notice to Appear contain?
• What other inadmissibility waivers are available in removal proceedings?
• What removal tracks exist besides full immigration court proceedings?
• What standards of review does the BIA apply?
• What Supreme Court cases govern immigration detention?
• When can an immigration judge order removal in absentia?
• When is a returning lawful permanent resident treated as seeking admission?
• Where and when is a petition for review filed?
• Which aggravated felony subparagraphs come up most often?
• Who bears the burden of showing a returning LPR is an applicant for admission?
• Who decides an adjustment of status application for someone in removal proceedings?
• Why does a 364-day sentence matter so much in immigration law?
• Why does Kucana v. Holder matter to motions to reopen?
• Why does the categorical approach ignore what the defendant actually did?
• Why is CAT protection uniquely valuable in removal defense?
• Why is criminal defense the most consequential seam in removal practice?
• Why might a theft statute not be a crime involving moral turpitude?
• Why should a removal defender always check whether the client is already a U.S. citizen?
• Why would a respondent accept voluntary departure?