When someone has been ordered removed, and then illegally re-enters the country again, the first deportation order can be “reinstated.”
🛑 When a prior removal order is reinstated, you are automatically ordered removed again.
🛑 You don't even have the right to see an Immigration Judge to ask for any of the forms of relief that are usually available in removal proceedings.
🛑 There is no time limit on how old the original deportation order was, it could be from decades ago, and still be reinstated.
To reinstate a previous removal order, your current entry has to have been without inspection. It makes a difference if you were granted a visa somehow, or presented yourself for inspection and were waved in.
You are only given an opportunity to see an Immigration Judge if you are able to show that you have a reasonable fear of returning to your home country. This is similar to a request for asylum, but it is a much faster process, with very little chance to appeal the decision.
ℹ️ If you are afraid of returning home because you reasonably believe that you will be persecuted, tortured or killed, you should immediately inform any Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") agent that you are speaking to. They are obligated to schedule you for a reasonable fear interview.
Another possible form of relief could come from challenging the circumstances of the first deportation order, if there was some basis to challenge whether that order was properly issued in the first place. It is possible to appeal the reinstatement of removal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for your jurisdiction, if the underlying removal order was defective.
For instance, if you were not properly advised of your rights to voluntary removal instead of deportation, or if you were eligible for relief and were never told this, you can potentially get the original removal order invalidated. In that case, there would be no order to reinstate.
You can usually get a stay of removal while you challenge the removal order. The problem with these appeals is that you will almost certainly remain detained for a prolonged period of time while you deal with this. The U.S. Court of Appeals is not fast with these petitions — it can take well over a year. Therefore, if ICE intends to keep you detained, you must be prepared for a lengthy detention while you appeal.
If you have no reasonable fear of returning home, and do not challenge the reinstatement of removal, you will have the deportation order reinstated.
A removal order makes you barred from returning to the United States for 10 years. However, if you illegally entered after an order of removal, you also triggered the permanent bar to admission.
That means that you have to spend a full 10 years outside the U.S. before he can even ask for permission to come back in.
🛑 Important update: you can now be deported to a country that is not your home country.
Since 2025, the government has been carrying out "third country" removals, deporting people to countries where they have never lived, sometimes with only a few days' notice. Courts have allowed this practice to continue while it is challenged.
ℹ️ This makes it even more important to tell ICE immediately about any fear of harm, not only in your home country, but in any country they might send you to.