Removal proceedings, also known as deportation, is a process initiated by US Immigration or Immigration and Custom Enforcement. Hearings are held at immigration courts which are located at most major cities throughout the US. Reasons that a person may be placed in removal proceedings are for having committed a crime, immigration status violations, or entering the US illegally or without proper documentation. 

The foreign national will be required to appear at the immigration court for a master calendar hearing at which the charges against him or her are read and a request for relief or extension of time may be made. In certain circumstances, the foreign national is arrested and held in detention. In these cases, it may be possible to apply for a bond to be released during the removal proceedings process. 

The process begins when the government files a notice to appear, known as the NTA. This is a document which details the reasons that the government believes a foreign national to be removable from the US. An experienced immigration attorney can then determine what relief may be available and how to go about applying for and documenting the case. 

Some forms of relief are Voluntary Departure (which allows a set period of time to leave the US without having actually been removed or deported), Cancelation of Removal based on continuous residence in the US for ten (or sometimes seven years) along with the requisite family ties in the US, adjustment of status to permanent residence (if the foreign national has the required family ties), American citizenship (possibly based on a parent’s US citizenship), I-212 waiver for past criminal convictions, political asylum (which requires proof of fear of persecution based on race, religion, political opinion, nationality or membership in a particular social group in the foreign national’s home country), or vacating of prior criminal convictions.