Deportation in the United States

Deportation Definition

In Roman law. A perpetual banishment, depriving th6 banished of his rights as a citizen. It differed from “relegation” (see the entry here) and “exile” (see in this legal Encyclopedia) (…). In English law the word referred to sentences to servitude in penal colonies. In American law the word usually refers to the compulsory removal from the country of undesirable aliens. (1)

History: Deportatio

(Lat.) In the civil law. A kind of banishment, where a condemned person was sent or carried away to some foreign country, usually to an island, in insulam deportatur, and thus taken out of the number of Roman citizens, ex numero eivium Bomanorum tollitur, being treated as though he were dead. Inst. 1. 12. 1. It was banishment for life, attended with the loss of civil rights, and the forfeiture of property. Relegatio was banishment for years, without the loss of civil rights. Dig. 48. 22; Calv. Lex. Bracton uses the term deportatio as synonymous with “exile,” “abjuration of the realm,” and “outlawry.” (2)

Introduction to Deportation

Most of the civil rights set out in the Constitution are guaranteed to “persons.” That term covers aliens as well as citizens. In one important respect, however, the status of aliens is altogether unlike that of citizens: Aliens may be subject to deportation, a legal process in which aliens are legally required to leave the United States. The Supreme Court has long held that the United States has the same almost-unlimited power to deport aliens as it has to exclude them.

In an early major case, the Court ruled that:

• deportation is an inherent power, arising out of the sovereignty of the United States, and
• deportation is not criminal punishment, and so does not require a criminal trial, Fong Yue Ting v. United States, 1893.

An alien may be deported on any one of several grounds. The most common today is illegal entry. Thousands of aliens who enter with false papers, sneak in by ship or plane, or slip across the border at night are caught each year and are deported. Many of those who are turned away are repeat offenders who will soon make yet another attempt to cross the border.

Conviction of any serious crime, federal or State, usually leads to a deportation order. In recent years, several thousand aliens have been expelled on the basis of their criminal records, especially narcotics violators. The war on terrorism has also quickened the pace of deportations.

Because deportation is a civil, not a criminal, matter, several constitutional safeguards do not apply–for example, bail and ex post facto laws. Thus, in Delmore v. Kim, 2003, the Court held that a legal immigrant who faces deportation because of a criminal conviction can be jailed and held without bail, and even without a court hearing to determine whether he or she is either dangerous or a flight risk.

According to the Encyclopedia of the American Constitution, Deportation is the removal of an alien out of the country. Congress has plenary power to deport aliens, even of long residence; its power rests upon the same grounds and is as unqualified as its power to exclude aliens from entering the country.

Deportation in relation to Crime and Race

Deportation is included in the Encyclopedia of Race and Crime (1), beginning with: Increasingly, deportation, a routine state practice comprising various social and political exclusions, banishment, or expulsion of noncitizens or forcible removal of nationals from a country, has become the panacea for migrant management. The policy of deportation is not new, nor is its use confined to a specific epoch, determinate groups, or particular countries. Nations have used deportation as a form of punishment and as a scapegoat mechanism to “cleanse society” of persons deemed “dangerous” or “undesirable” but disproportionately to expel ethnic or racial groups deemed unfavorable. Used extensively worldwide, deportation has been justified by, among other factors, political beliefs, health status, race or ethnic membership, religion, and sexual orientation. Deportation policies highlight historical links between racialization and immigration as evidenced by targeting individuals often based on their physical characteristics whether they are legal immigrants or not. The Yearbook of Immigration Statistics shows that between 1892 and 2005, a period U.S.

Deportation in Foreign Legal Encyclopedias

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Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and Refugees

A definition of Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), in the context of refugee resettlement and non-emergency repatriation, may be provided here: The Act which, along with other immigration laws, treaties, and conventions of the USA, relates to the immigration, temporary admission, naturalization, and deportation of aliens.

Deportation Background

Resources

See Also

• Refugee Resettlement
• Non-Emergency Repatriation

Deportation Background

Resources

Notes and References

1. This definition of Deportation Is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
2. This definition of Deportatio is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
3. Entry about Deportation in the Encyclopedia of Race and Crime

See Also

Removal in this Legal Encyclopedia
Removal definition in the Law Dictionary
Immigration Law
Undocumented Alien