If you have irregularly crossed the United States border and have been granted a Parole Order, you are likely awaiting a hearing or court date with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) 

An immigration court date is granted to immigrants who have been detained by immigration authorities and later released. It is also granted when political asylum has been requested. Assigning an immigration court hearing date can take months, even years. Failure to appear at this hearing could even lead to immediate deportation.

In this article we tell you everything you need to know about the Immigration court date. In addition, we tell you about the innovative and unique tool that Inmigreat has developed so that you do not run the risk of losing your court date.

Understanding the Immigration Court Date Process

An immigration court date, also referred to as a deportation hearing, is a legal procedure where an immigration judge evaluates whether a noncitizen individual can continue residing in the United States. During this process, the judge reviews the case and makes a decision based on the presented evidence and applicable immigration laws.

This court date involves interaction with ICE, or participation in the Intensive Supervision Program (ISAP), which is an ICE initiative designed to monitor specific immigrants.

By understanding the immigration court date process, individuals can gain insights into their legal status and potential outcomes. It is crucial to stay informed about this significant step in navigating the complex immigration system.

When is an appointment with ICE or ISAP granted?

If you find yourself in any of these cases, you will surely have to appear before an immigration judge.

If you have been granted an I-220A: The I-220A form is a “Provisional Release Order” offered by the US government to people who were detained by immigration authorities and later released. This grant, however, requires that people with this permit attend immigration court hearings or other legal appearances related to their case, and also maintain good behavior while their immigration status is resolved.

This status is a kind of parole, but different from humanitarian parole, which is protected by section 236 of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). For Cubans who entered the US and were granted an I-220A, the only way to regularize is to apply for political asylum. In this way, a mandatory appearance before an Immigration judge is necessary.

If you have been granted an I-220B: The United States Government issues Form I-220B in the case of requesting a “Supervision Order.”  That is, if you have been denied a residence permit and are awaiting a deportation order, you can apply for an I-220B. This procedure is a special concession equivalent to parole that allows you to obtain permission to work legally in the United States, obtain a driver’s license, and live without running the risk of being detained by immigration officers.

In the case of Cubans who have been detained by ICE for having committed some violation of the law, since it is not possible to deport them to their country of origin considering that the Cuban government does not admit them back, the immigration authorities automatically grant an I-220B.

If you have violated the terms of the humanitarian parole: Parole is a form of temporary permission granted to some immigrants so they can be in the United States. Generally, if a person is granted parole it means that they havethat they have been admitted temporarily due to humanitarian reasons or for a significant public benefit.

Although the parole process effectively stops the removal process, this does not mean that you cannot be required to appear in immigration court again. This can occur if the immigrant has violated the terms of his or her parole, has committed a crime, or if immigration authorities must resume the removal process for any reason.

Political asylum seeker

If you have been granted parole for less than a year, and have decided to apply for political asylum, you will probably also have to appear before Immigration hearings.‍

How do I know when I have an Immigration court date?

If you have received a summons from ICE for a legal hearing, with the date and place of the first meeting, then it means that you must appear for an immigration court date. Additionally, if you have arrived in the United States through the Mexico border after March 2021 and were issued a document called a Notice to Appear (Form I-385), this document does not necessarily state the date and place of your appointment. Therefore, you should visit the ICE website and request it. It is likely that there are no appointments available, so you should keep checking the availability of appointments on the site. The system is updated weekly and will inform you if there is already an audience for you.

Although this is an extremely tedious process, you cannot fail to check the availability of appointments weekly, as it could happen that you are assigned an appointment and you do not find out. Being attentive to your court hearing is crucial since missing it could lead to imprisonment and deportation.

What if I miss the appointment with ICE?

It is crucial to attend your appointment with ICE to avoid being detained and placed in deportation proceedings. If you fail to attend, the judge can issue a deportation order in absentia, even without the accused being present.

The I-220A form allows you to wait for the sentence of your process in freedom, work, and incorporate yourself into society. Failing to attend scheduled hearings would indicate to the judge that you do not deserve this probation. Therefore, you must maintain good behavior and attend all hearings.

If you cannot attend the date or time of your appointment with ICE, you should try to reschedule it through the ICE website or phone number. If it is not possible to avoid missing the appointment, after 30 days, you could request a motion for a new appointment. You should consulting your situation with a lawyer for produce a perfect preparation of your motion.

In general, it is not recommended to miss the appointment as it is challenging for this motion to be granted. You would have to allege a very good justification such as confirmable illness or other significant problems. The government deploys a rigorous investigation in these cases to determine if a person qualifies for such a motion.

Inmigreat: New solution for court date tracking

Granting the appointment is a lengthy process, spanning several years. It requires you to regularly monitor your case on the ICE website every week. On the other hand, failure to appear before the immigration judge has severe implications, including deportation. Therefore, missing the appointment with ICE is an eventuality you cannot afford.

Inmigreat is dedicated to simplifying immigration processes for Latin immigrants in the United States. To that end, we have developed a new tool: LegalRadar. It is a completely unique “Case tracker” available in the market, designed to automatically track your court date. Our system will check the status of your case for a court date every week. Inmigreat will send notifications to your phone whenever there are changes, so you won’t have to monitor your process manually and can continue with your life.

This tool will be available on our website very soon.

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