A Statute of Limitations for Deportation

Guest blogger: Arvind Ravikumar, University of San Francisco law student:

Our current immigration system seems to place a lot of priority on deportation as a strategy to deter undocumented immigration. However, deportation is an inherently harsh measure and many immigrants are unjustly deported after they have spent a long time in the United States and after they have contributed in significant ways to their communities and to U.S. society in general. Deportation not only separates families and children but many of the immigrants who are deported are those who grew up in the United States from a young age and who would not be able to adapt well and have a good life if they were forcibly sent back to their country of origin. Also, the threat of deportation can be just as detrimental, as it creates a cloud of uncertainty and instability in many immigrant families, as many family members have to constantly live with the possibility that they will one day be found to entered the country as undocumented immigrants and that they will be deported after living in the country for a long time.

In this context, it is important to have a statute of limitations for deportation, and deportation as a strategy must be avoided as much as possible. A possible statute of limitations for deportation in the case of undocumented immigrants can be described as something like this: “Any alien who entered the United States without any documentation and who has resided in the United States for at least ten years and who has not committed any felonies shall not be subject to deportation”. Such a statute would take into account residence of long duration in the country and ban all deportation after a certain time period. It would also provide more certainty and stability to many immigrant families and it would reward those who have good character and who have not committed major offenses. It would also save valuable public resources which would otherwise be spent tracking down and deporting immigrants who meet the requirements of the statute of limitations.

Even in the case of undocumented immigrants who have not lived in the country for ten years or who may have committed some major criminal offenses, deportation ought to be used as a last resort. A judge ought to look at different factors to grant relief from deportation such as family ties with the country, residence of long duration in the country, evidence of hardship to the respondent and relatives, proof of genuine rehabilitation if there is a criminal record and service to the community.

In conclusion, a statute of limitations for deportation as well as allowing reasonable exceptions for those immigrants who do not meet the requirements of a statute of limitations will do much more to simplify our current immigration system as well as produce more just outcomes for undocumented immigrants.

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