I.    ADMISSION TO THE UNITED STATES

 A.      The Meaning of "Admission"

 B.      Admission vs. Entry

 C.      Re-Entry of Permanent Residents

II.   GROUNDS OF INADMISSIBILITY

 A.      Health-Related Grounds

 B.      Criminal and Related Grounds

(a)     Crimes of Moral Turpitude

   (i)      Exceptions And Waivers of the Criminal Grounds

 C.      Security and Related Grounds

 D.      Inadmissibility for Violations of Immigration Law or Procedure

(a)     Illegal Entrants and Immigration Violators

(b)     Previous Removal and Unlawful Presence

 E.      The Public Charge Ground

 F.      Other Grounds of Inadmissibility

(a)     Labor Certification

(b)     Documentation Requirements

(c)     Persons Ineligible for Citizenship

(d)     Miscellaneous

 G.      False claim to U.S. Citizenship

III.  REMOVAL FROM THE UNITED STATES

  A.      General Considerations

IV. GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL (DEPORTABILITY)

A.      Inadmissibility at Entry and Status Violations

B.      Criminal Grounds

(a)     Crimes of Moral Turpitude

(b)     Aggravated Felonies

(c)     Other Criminal Grounds

   (i)      Avoiding the Immigration Consequences of Crimes

C.      Registration Requirements

D.      National Security Grounds

E.      Other Removal Grounds

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C.  Registration Requirements

Under INA § 265, all non-citizens who remain in the United States for longer than thirty days, including permanent residents, are required to report any change of address to immigration authorities within ten days. Failure to satisfy this requirement, or any other registration requirement, constitutes grounds for removal. INA § 237(a)(3)(A). Although part of the INA since 1952, this provision was rarely enforced. After the terrorist of attacks of September 11, 2001, however, tracking non-citizens in the U.S. became a matter of great public concern. Consequently, in 2002 the Justice Department announced that it would begin enforcing the change of address requirement and would impose special registration requirements on nonimmigrants who are considered security risks. 67 Fed.Reg. 52584. The heightened registration requirements currently apply to nonimmigrants from twenty designated countries, and could be extended to others in the future. In addition to reporting address changes, these nonimmigrants are required to report to the BBS thirty days after arrival and every twelve months thereafter to confirm their continued compliance with the conditions of their nonimmigrant status. They must also report any change of employment or school registration and any departure from the U.S. Failure to comply with any of these requirements could constitute grounds for removal and future inadmissibility.

D.  National Security Grounds

The BBS also may remove non-citizens for engaging in acts that threaten national security or U.S. foreign policy after their entry into the United States. Since there is no statute of limitations in the INA, the non-citizen may be removed any time after the prohibited act is committed. The national security removal grounds parallel the grounds of inadmissibility. Like the inadmissibility grounds, the removal grounds have changed as national security concerns have changed. Prior to 1990, the statute classified as removable the following "subversives":

1. Anarchists;

2. Aliens advocating or teaching opposition to all organized government;

3. Aliens who are members of or affiliated with the Communist Party or any other totalitarian organization;

4. Aliens, not already covered by the preceding classes, advocating the economic, international, and governmental doctrines of world communism;

5. Aliens advocating the overthrow, by force and violence, of the United States government, or any of its officers;

6. Aliens who write, publish, or distribute materials which are subversive;

7. Aliens who affiliate with persons who write, publish, or distribute subversive literature;

8. Aliens whom the Attorney General believes entered the United States principally or incidentally to engage in activities endangering the welfare, safety, or national security of the United States.

The 1990 Act eliminated most of these provisions. That Act and subsequent amendments shifted the focus from subversive activity to terrorism. The current law permits removal of any non-citizen who violates U.S. espionage law, engages in criminal activity that endangers public safety or national security, or engages in any activity whose purpose is to overthrow the U.S. government by force or unlawful means. INA § 237(a)(4)(A). A non-citizen who has engaged, is engaged, or at any time after admission engages in terrorist activity, as defined in section 212(a)(3), also is subject to removal. INA § 237(a)(4)(B). Since this section relies on the definition of terrorism contained in section 212(a)(3), the changes made to that definition by the USA Patriot Act affect removal as well as inadmissibility. The Secretary of State has the discretion to recommend for removal a non-citizen whose presence he or she believes will have serious adverse consequences for U.S. foreign policy. INA § 237(a)(4)(C).

In addition, a 1978 amendment to the INA, updated in the 1990 Act, permits the BBS to remove non-citizens who participated in Nazi activities or other acts of genocide. According to the Act, any non-citizen who, in association with the Nazi party, "ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in the persecution of any person because of race, religion, national origin, or political opinion" may be removed, as can anyone else who participated in genocide. INA §§ 237(a)(4)(D), 212(a)(3)(E). This provision was unsuccessfully challenged as an unconstitutional bill of attainder and ex post facto law. The Second Circuit in Linnas v. INS (2d Cir.1986) held that the provision is not a bill of attainder because removal is not punishment. Linnas, who was found to be chief of a Nazi concentration camp, was ordered removed to the Soviet Union, even though he was convicted in absentia in the Soviet Union and sentenced to death there for his war crimes. Linnas' argument that his removal would be unlawful extradition was likewise unsuccessful.

E.  Other Removal Grounds

The INA also provides for the removal of certain other statutorily defined undesirables. Non-citizens convicted of a crime of domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, child neglect, child abandonment, or of a violation of a protective order relating to domestic violence are removable. INA § 237(a)(2)(E). The BBS may also remove a non-citizen who knowingly or recklessly prepares, files, or assists another in preparing or filing a false application or document for immigration benefits. INA § 237(a)(3)(C)(i). A waiver is available for a first violation by a permanent resident who committed a document fraud offense solely to assist or support a spouse or child. INA § 237(a)(3)(C)(ii). IIRIRA also added new grounds for removal and criminal penalties for non-citizens who falsely claim citizenship. INA § 237(a)(3)(D). Non-citizens who within five years of admission become "public charges" by applying for certain government benefits can be removed unless they can show that the need for such benefits arose after their admission. INA § 237(a)(5). Further, IIRIRA amendments provide for removal of those non-citizens who have voted unlawfully. INA § 237(a)(6). As with the similar ground of inadmissibility, the unlawful voting ground is waived in the case of anyone who has a U.S. citizen parent, became a lawful permanent resident while under the age of sixteen, and reasonably believed that he or she was also a citizen.

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