Citizen or Not, Know What to Do If ICE Contacts You

If someone you love is a U.S. citizen, an ICE visit or a letter about their papers can feel frightening. Can ICE deport you if you are a citizen? No. Deportation, also called removal, applies to noncitizens, so a citizen cannot be placed in those proceedings. Questions about a person’s immigration or citizenship status can come up in many everyday situations, and people facing them can contact our office to talk through their circumstances. The details matter, so here is how it works.

The Short Answer: Citizens Cannot Be Placed in Deportation Proceedings

ICE cannot place a U.S. citizen in deportation proceedings, because the removal rules cover noncitizens. 8 U.S.C. § 1227 lists the classes of deportable aliens. Citizenship is the legal question. It does not turn on how someone looks, speaks, or where a family lives. A person can become a citizen by birth in the United States, by birth abroad to citizen parents under certain conditions, or through naturalization.

What 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) Says About Detention

Encounters with officers can be stressful, and anyone unsure how a situation may affect their immigration case can contact our office. Detention and deportation are different outcomes. On a warrant issued by the Attorney General, an alien (a noncitizen) may be arrested and detained pending a decision on whether the alien is to be removed from the United States, under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). Records cause many of these problems. A name match, a shared birth date, or an incomplete file can lead officers to flag a citizen. Being held while a claim is checked is not the same as a removal order. The key is getting proof of citizenship in front of officers quickly and clearly.

How to Prove Citizenship During an ICE Encounter

Carry proof of citizenship, or keep it where family can reach it fast. Proof of citizenship depends on each person’s own records, and our team can review your documents with you when you contact our office. Keep copies or clear phone photos of these papers somewhere family members can get to them.

State plainly that you are a U.S. citizen, and offer your documents when it is safe to do so. Write down the officers’ names or badge numbers, the time, the place, and what was said as soon as you can.

Never give false information. It is reasonable to say you want a lawyer before answering questions about your birthplace or how you entered the country.

Naturalized Citizens and Denaturalization

A naturalized citizen’s citizenship can be revoked through a federal court case. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1451(a), upon affidavit showing good cause, United States attorneys bring these cases in district court. The grounds are that the order was illegally procured, procured by concealment of a material fact, or procured by willful misrepresentation; the statute also treats a refusal by a naturalized citizen, within ten years of naturalization, to testify before a congressional committee about subversive activities as a ground for revocation where that refusal led to a contempt conviction.

The naturalized person gets sixty days’ personal notice, unless waived, to answer the government’s petition, under 8 U.S.C. § 1451(b). 8 U.S.C. § 1451 reads: “unless waived by such party, in which to make answers to the petition of the United States; and if such naturalized person be absent from the United States or from the judicial district in which such person last had his residence, such notice shall be given either by personal service upon him or by publication in the manner provided for the service of summons by publication or upon absentees by the laws of the State or the place where such suit is brought.”

A notice or summons about a naturalization case is a serious document. Review it promptly, because the law gives a short window to respond.

Green Card Holders Versus Citizens

A green card holder is still a noncitizen and can be placed in removal proceedings. Removal cases begin with a notice to appear, which must specify the nature of the proceedings and the charges, under 8 U.S.C. § 1229(a). The first hearing cannot be set earlier than 10 days after that notice is served, unless the person asks for an earlier date in writing, under 8 U.S.C. § 1229(b)(1).

Derived citizenship works differently. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1431(a), a child born abroad becomes a citizen automatically when at least one parent is a citizen, the child is under eighteen, and the child lives in the United States in that parent’s legal and physical custody after a lawful admission for permanent residence. Many people assume they are citizens, or assume they are not. Documents matter here. If the child lives abroad and has not acquired citizenship automatically under section 1431, a U.S. citizen parent (or, if the citizen parent has died during the preceding five years, a citizen grandparent or citizen legal guardian) may apply for naturalization on behalf of the child under 8 U.S.C. § 1433(a). A certificate of citizenship is issued upon proof of several conditions. At least one parent is (or, at death, was) a U.S. citizen. Either the citizen parent, or that parent’s own citizen parent, has (or, at death, had) been physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for periods totaling not less than five years, at least two of which were after age fourteen. The child is under eighteen. The child resides outside the United States in the legal and physical custody of the applicant (or, if the citizen parent is deceased, of an individual who does not object to the application). The child is temporarily present in the United States under a lawful admission and is maintaining that lawful status. Different rules apply to a child of an Armed Forces member who is authorized to reside abroad with the member under official orders: the member’s time abroad counts as physical presence, and the temporary-presence requirement does not apply. An adopted child is covered only if the child satisfies the adoption requirements of section 1101(b)(1). In general, the child becomes a citizen only upon approval of the application and the taking of the oath of allegiance.

If an immigration judge orders removal, the decision can be appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals. Under 8 CFR 1240.15, the Notice of Appeal must state the reasons for the appeal.

If a Family Member Has Been Detained or Received Removal Papers

Start by gathering the person’s citizenship documents, any ICE forms, the detention location, and an A-number if one is known. You can look up someone held in ICE detention through the Online Detainee Locator System.

Do not sign documents about citizenship or status until you understand them. Ask for time to review. If a removal case already exists, the removal defense overview explains the process and options. For questions after an unfavorable decision, see appeal options after a lost immigration case.

Adriana Gomez is the responsible lawyer for this page. If your relative was just detained or handed immigration papers, you don’t have to sort it out alone. Reach out to AG Immigration Law P.A. through the contact form, by phone, or on WhatsApp to book a paid consultation.