Do You Go To Jail If You Are Deported?

In most cases, individuals who are sentenced to deportation through an immigration hearing, are not jailed if they are deported to their home countries. To learn more critical information about how deportation may or may not result in jail time, simply continue reading. Especially if you are concerned about the possibility of being made to serve jail time, once you have been deported back to your country of citizenship. If the judge who presides over your immigration trial rules that you must be deported from the United States.

Do You Go To Jail If You Are Deported?

If You Have Comitted An Aggravated Felony In The U.S

If you are not a US citizen but have residency status and commit an aggravated crime in the United States, it’s highly likely that you’ll go through the judicial system before you are ordered to attend an immigration hearing. As the length of your sentence is likely to influence the eventual outcome of your immigration hearing. This is due to the fact that if you serve more than a year in jail for a crime such as theft, you’ll be eligible for deportation but if you are sentenced to a shorter period of confinement, you may be allowed to stay in the US.

If you serve jail time for an aggravated felony, upon your release from prison, you’ll likely receive a letter that will summon you to an immigration hearing. At this point in time, the judge will read out the charge against you, after which point you’ll be able to state your case as to why you believe that you should be able to remain in the United States.

Will You Be Jailed Uping Being Deported To Your Country Of Origin?

If at the end of your immigration trial the decision is made that you’ll be deported back to the nation which you came from, you will not need to serve further jail time. As deportation is a punishment in itself and doesn’t require any further jail time. This is especially true if you already served jail time in the United States for committing a serious crime.

The only reason that you would be jailed in your country of origin after being successfully deported is you did not serve the full amount of jail time for committing a crime in the United States and are sent to your home country to serve the rest of your jail time. This situation only occurs when the US has a special, reciprocal agreement with your country of origin. In most cases, individuals who commit a crime in the United States are made to serve jail time in the US, not in their home countries.

If you were not sentenced to jail time for the immigration crime which you committed in the United States and received a lesser penalty such as a financial penalty or home detention, you can rest assured that you will not serve jail time for your crime in your home country. The only time that you may be jailed is for committing a serious crime, which applies to US citizens too and would occur before your immigration hearing.

Entering The US Illegally Or Overstaying Your Visa

If you are caught by law enforcement, trying to get into the US illegally at a port of entry such as an international airport, you will not serve jail time in a US prison. Instead, you’ll be immediately sent back to the country from which you entered the US.

The situation is a little different if you enter the United States legally on a short-term visa and fail to leave the country by the expiry date on your temporary visa. In this case, you still won’t be jailed for committing a crime but you will be transported to a deportation center where you will be kept, perhaps against your will until a decision has been made about your deportation. Which will occur at the end of an immigration trial.

If you are not deemed as a runaway risk, there is a small chance that you may be released from your deportation center on bail. Which is a great idea as while detention centers are not jails they offer a very basic standard of living that you may not be used to. However, if you fail to turn up to your primary immigration hearing, which is the first of the two hearings in your trial, you will be sent back to a detention center and will face harsher penalties for failing to turn up to your hearing.

For example, the judge will take into account the fact that you absconded from your hearing when they make their verdict. So it’s definitely highly advisable to ensure that you turn up to your scheduled immigration hearings on time if you do post bail to avoid spending time in a detention center.

In Front Of The Possibility Of Being Unfairly Jailed In Your Homeland

If you think that you could be jailed after your deportation, for belonging to a group such as a cultural group or religious group which is persecuted in your country of citizenship, you will have the option to apply for refugee status. Although it will be necessary to prove that there is a real risk to your safety if you were to be deported.

Conclusion

While you may be made to serve jail time for committing what’s known as an aggravated felony in the United States, once you are deported back to your home country, you won’t be made to serve additional jail time. Also, keep in mind that deportation itself is a punishment and will not result in any jail time. Lastly, while you may be housed in a detention center against your will, after being apprehended by ICE, you will not be kept in prison, while you await your immigration hearings. If you are worried about the possibility of being deported, it’s within your best interests to contact a successful, trustworthy immigration attorney for assistance at your earliest convenience.

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