A removal case is a trial. Defend it like one.
The government has to prove its charge. You have the right to contest it, to keep unlawfully obtained evidence out, to ask the court to end the case, and to apply for every form of relief the law gives you. We do that work in the immigration courts, at the Board of Immigration Appeals and in the federal courts.
Deportation defense is a list. We go down all of it.
Before anyone concedes a charge, every item here gets checked against the facts. Some end the case with no application at all. Some produce a green card. Some only buy time.
- Cancellation of removalSeven years for green card holders. Ten years and hardship to a citizen or resident relative for everyone else. INA 240A.
- The 212(h) waiverForgives crimes involving moral turpitude and a single small marijuana possession, on extreme hardship or 15 years.
- A green card before the judgeThe immigration judge has exclusive jurisdiction over adjustment of status in proceedings, with any waiver alongside.
- Removal of conditions before the judgeWhen USCIS denies the I-751, the judge reviews it fresh and the burden is on the government.
- Motions to terminateThe charge fails, the notice is defective, or you can naturalize. The case ends with no application at all.
- Administrative closure and dismissalOff the active docket while a petition is decided elsewhere, or dismissed as a matter of prosecutorial discretion.
- Asylum, withholding and CATProtection from persecution or torture, raised as a defense before the judge.
- 212(c), 212(i), 237(a)(1)(H) and the other waiversOld pleas, fraud and misrepresentation, unlawful presence, and permission to reapply.
- Voluntary departureLeaving on your own terms with no removal order, under strict conditions.
- U and T visas, SIJS, TPS, NACARA, registryRelief decided elsewhere while the court waits, and the older statutes still on the books.
The deadlines in a removal case do not move
A missed hearing produces a removal order in your absence. A missed appeal deadline makes the judge's order final. The court applies these strictly.
The hearing date
Miss it and the judge may order you removed in absentia under INA 240(b)(5)(A). Rescission is by motion only: 180 days for exceptional circumstances, any time for lack of notice.
To appeal to the Board
The Notice of Appeal must reach the Board of Immigration Appeals within 30 calendar days. A 10-day rule published in 2026 was vacated before it took effect and never applied.
To reopen
One motion to reopen, within 90 days of the final order. The Board counts a motion to the judge and a motion to the Board as the same single motion.
What clients have written
Quoted as written, from immigration matters only, with the full record one click away.
He is a strong immigration trial attorney who fought hard in court and did everything he could to protect my son and achieve the best possible outcome.
He help my husband with immigration matter Finally my husband is out the jail and he is going to get his green card.
Mike helped me a lot with my immigration case. He was very intelligent, respectful, and quick to respond to the judge.
Avvo figures as displayed September 17, 2026. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
In the order the court will actually reach it
A removal hearing has a structure, and a defense that follows it does not concede anything it does not have to.
The charging document
We read the Notice to Appear against INA 239(a). A defect can matter for the stop-time rule, for an in absentia order and for termination, but only if it is raised early.
The charge itself
For a person who was admitted, the government must prove deportability by clear and convincing evidence. We do not admit what it has not proven.
The evidence
Evidence obtained through an egregious constitutional violation or by coercion can be suppressed. The Form I-213 is presumed reliable, and the presumption can be rebutted.
Ending the case without relief
Termination where the charge fails. Dismissal on the government's motion. Administrative closure while a petition is decided elsewhere.
Relief
Every application you qualify for, filed in the alternative, with the record built to survive appeal.
After the decision
Appeal to the Board within 30 days. Petition for review within 30 days of the Board. Motions to reopen and stays of removal when the facts change.
Removal law moved a great deal in 2025 and 2026
Much of what is published about immigration court describes rules that no longer exist, or that never took effect. We track the primary sources.
One motion to reopen, counted across both tribunals
In Matter of M-M-L-J-, 29 I&N Dec. 843, the Board held that a motion to the judge and a motion to the Board are the same single allowance, and that equitable tolling does not reach the number bar.
The 10-day appeal deadline is dead for good
The government dismissed its appeal in Amica Center for Immigrant Rights v. EOIR. Thirty calendar days governs. The online regulation still prints the vacated text.
Eleventh Circuit: interior arrestees can get bond hearings
In Hernandez Alvarez v. Warden, a published decision, the court rejected the mandatory-detention reading for people arrested inside the country who were never admitted.
An immigration firm that tries cases, and appeals them
Mikhail Usher has represented immigrants for more than twenty years and founded the firm in 2013. The work does not stop at the hearing.
What we will tell you in the first conversation
What stage your case is at and what your dates are. Which items on the list of relief are open to you, which are closed, and why. The honest weaknesses, including anything in your criminal record that changes the answer. In 2026 more than eight in ten completed immigration court cases ended in a removal or voluntary departure order, and most of the people ordered removed had no lawyer. We would rather say something uncomfortable early than sell you optimism.
When part of your case belongs somewhere else, we send you to the right page
A removal case rarely travels alone. Bond, asylum, a stalled petition and the family case behind a green card each have their own site, built the same way and run by the same attorneys.
Usher Law Group, P.C. Every practice area, including the criminal defense that so often decides a removal case.
Visit →asylumadvocate.comAsylumAsylum, withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture, on all three tracks.
Visit →icebail.comDetention and bondFinding someone in ICE custody, bond hearings, and federal habeas corpus when the court will not act.
Visit →uscisdelay.comUSCIS delayA writ of mandamus in federal court when USCIS sits on the petition your case is waiting for.
Visit →visa4love.comFamily immigrationMarriage and family petitions: the I-130 that makes a green card in court possible.
Visit →Common questions
I received a Notice to Appear. What does it mean?
The Department of Homeland Security has started removal proceedings against you under INA 240. The Notice to Appear lists the facts the government alleges, the legal charges, and a hearing date at a named immigration court. It does not mean you will be deported. It means a judge will decide, and you have the right to contest the charges and to apply for any form of relief you qualify for. Read it carefully, note the court and the date, and get advice before the first hearing.
Can a deportation case actually be won?
Yes, in several different ways, and the right one depends on the facts. The government may fail to prove the charge. The case may be terminated or dismissed. You may qualify for a form of relief the judge can grant: cancellation of removal, a waiver, adjustment of status to a green card, asylum, withholding or protection under the Convention Against Torture, and others. We will not predict the outcome of your case, but we will tell you honestly which of these are open to you.
What happens if I miss my hearing?
The judge can order you removed in your absence under INA 240(b)(5)(A). That order can be rescinded only on a motion to reopen, within 180 days for exceptional circumstances or at any time if you did not receive notice or were in custody. Never miss a hearing. If you cannot attend, tell a lawyer before the date, not after.
How long do I have to appeal?
Thirty calendar days from the immigration judge's decision to file an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals. A 10-day deadline was published in early 2026 but was vacated by a federal court before it took effect and never applied, even though the regulation still prints it. Thirty days is the rule, and the Board applies a receipt rule, so the appeal has to arrive by then.
My relative is detained. What comes first?
Two things at once: release and defense. Release is a bond question, and we handle it through our detention practice at icebail.com. Defense is the removal case itself, which moves fast on a detained docket. Call (718) 484-7510 and tell us where the person is being held and whether they have a hearing date.
Do you handle cases outside New York?
Yes. Removal proceedings are federal. The immigration courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals and USCIS are federal systems, so we represent people before them throughout the United States and its territories. Our office is in Brooklyn and our attorneys appear regularly in the New York, Newark and Miami immigration courts.
Tell us where your case is. We will tell you what is still possible.
You get a free case review with an attorney, in your language. We speak English, Russian, Spanish and Uzbek in-house, and we bring in a live interpreter for anything else. We will tell you what stage you are at, which forms of relief are open to you, what your deadlines are, and whether we can help. If we cannot, we will say so.