There are several ways that a foreign national can end up in immigration court. Regardless of how it occurs, it is one of the most difficult things a foreign national and their family can go through.

While an immigrant may find themselves in immigration court for many reasons, all removal proceedings begin with a notice to appear, "NTA". The NTA contains valuable information that your attorney will need to help you prepare for your appearence in immigration court. It is required to inform the foreign national of the nature of the proceedings and the legal authority for the proceedings. In addition, the NTA describes the acts or conduct alleged to be in violation of the law, the charges against the respondent and hte statutory provisions alleged to have been violated. This document should be taken to your attorney at once as it represents the substance of the case the DHS has implemented against the foreign national.

Immigration court itself is typically broken down into several segments. The first step is the Master Calendar Hearing. At the Master Calendar Hearing, the immigration judge will obtain some preliminary information such as ensuring that the respondents address is accurate, and then set a date and time for the indivual hearing.

At the individual hearing, the respondent is entitled to argue their case before the immigration judge. At the conclusion of the respondent's case, the judge will make a ruling. There are no jury trial in immigration. In addition, respondents are not entitled to actually have counsel. So, if a respondent wants to have counsel represent them in immigration court, they will either have to retain one themselves or find an attorney or agency willing to do pro bono work. A list of such agencies in the Baltimore area can be found here. A list of such agencies for the York, Pennsylvania area can be found here.

After the immigration judge makes thier ruling, either side can appeal the ruling to the Board of Immigration Appeals, "BIA." From there, appeals may be made through the federal court systems.

Kollman & Saucier, P.A., The Business Law Building, 1823 York Road, Timonium, MD 21093   Phone: 410-727-4300
Fax: 410-727-4391   © 2008 Kollman & Saucier, P.A. All rights reserved.
Website maintained by Armistead Technologies, Llc.^tm