A flight with 158 people deported from the United States arrived in Brazil on Friday night (24). Among them, 88 were illegal Brazilian immigrants.
THE CNN spoke with migration and international law professors, Wilson Bicalho and Priscila Caneparo, to understand the steps of the deportation process in the USA.
1 – Identification and judgment
After identification as an irregular immigrant, the foreign person undergoes a hearing before an immigration judge. It will determine the irregularity or whether there is any humanitarian issue for staying on North American soil.
If found to be irregular, the immigrant goes to a custody center, where he awaits deportation.
Experts emphasize that deportation rules are national. However, the principles of universal human rights must be respected.
2 – Collective deportation
Deportation is carried out collectively and is sometimes slow. It is not an immediate and exclusive process, that is, transport is only carried out with a large number of irregular immigrants.
With the finding of irregularity, the Brazilian government, for example, is notified and asked whether the immigrant intends to return to Brazil.
Caneparo explains that *immigrants have no obligation to return to their country of origin, and can choose another country, which must also be informed and may or may not accept reception.
“Brazil is obliged to receive it, but the deportee does not need to return to the country if he does not wish to.”
3 – Transfer
Wilson Bicalho explains that North American legislation does not criminalize handcuffing deportees. “There is no crime in deporting immigrants in handcuffs under United States law.”
Experts emphasize, however, that the transfer must respect human rights and international law, since when a plane enters international airspace, international law applies.
They claim that the act of chaining is prohibited by international human rights law and is only authorized in extreme situations.
“From a practical point of view, when there is a deportation, people are detained and transported at large, not with these restrictions”, explains Wilson Bicalho.
4 – Arrival in the chosen country
If the immigrant returns to Brazil, for example, the Federal Government has no obligation towards the deportees, according to experts, because they are not refugees or political exiles.
Furthermore, there is no repatriation process, because they are already Brazilians. Generally, the government only provides conditions for deportees to return to their homeland.
5 – Did deportees commit crimes?
Both Bicalho and Caneparo state that it is not possible to know whether Brazilians deported by the United States committed any crimes.
They explain that deportation is the removal of a foreigner when he finds himself in an irregular immigration situation, which does not constitute a crime.
Caneparo explains that, if any deportee had committed a crime, deportation would be “almost impossible” due to the principle of territoriality. The principle determines that, when a person commits a criminal act in a certain country, this country has the competence to judge and execute the sentence.
The expert also explains that, if someone had committed a crime in the United States and fled to Brazil, the person would also be responsible for the crime in the country, within the limits of the Brazilian Penal Code.
Accelerated removal
Created in 1996, the expedited deportation procedure, known as “expedited removal,” allows authorities to expel a person from the country without a hearing before an immigration judge.
By doing so, the federal administration expands its powers to deport illegal immigrants.
According to the non-governmental organization American Immigration Council, undocumented foreigners subject to “expedited removal” procedures have the right to access the asylum system if they express fear of being persecuted or tortured upon returning to their home country.
However, another measure by Trump this week was the suspension of flights for refugees who planned to travel to the US.
“Once an immigration officer determines that an alien is subject to ‘expedited removal,’ their removal is ordered,” the organization details.
“Unlike other deportation orders, an ‘expedited removal’ order typically cannot be appealed and carries a five-year reentry ban in most circumstances,” Elizabeth Uribe, an attorney and expert, explained to CNN .
This content was originally published in In five points, understand the deportation process carried out by the USA on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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