Reinstatement of removal

Reinstatement of removal in the United States refers to an immigration enforcement procedure in which a previously removed (deported) alien can again be removed for subsequent illegal reentry with no required judicial review except in very limited exceptional circumstances. The term "alien" means any person who is not an American.
History.
Existence before IIRIRA.
Prior to the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), reinstatement of removal only applied to aliens previously deported (not excluded) on grounds relating to certain criminal convictions, failing to register, falsification of documents, or security or terrorist related grounds.
Formalization in IIRIRA (1996, active since April 1997).
Reinstatement of removal was introduced in legislation as part of the IIRIRA, passed by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by then-United States President Bill Clinton, and active as of April 1, 1997.
Subsequent changes and refinements.
The practice of reinstatement of removal has refined and evolved through a mix of legislation, guidelines by immigration enforcement agencies, and court decisions. These include:
Procedure and conditions.
Applicability.
Reinstatement of removal may apply to aliens (i.e., people who are not United States nationals) who satisfy all of the following conditions:
Although the language of the statute refers only to prior orders of removal, section 309(d)(2) of the IIRIRA clarifies that any reference in law to an order of removal should be interpreted to include orders of exclusion and deportation. Thus, reinstatement of removal applies to orders of removal, deportation and exclusion.
Notice and opportunity to contest.
An immigration officer who establishes that the alien meets all these requirements may decide to pursue a reinstatement of removal. This involves the following steps:
After the officer has determined that the alien meets the conditions for deportation, the officer reinstates the previous order of exclusion, deportation or removal.
Appealing the reinstatement order.
The immigration officer's decision is considered final and there is no scope for appeal "within" the immigration enforcement bureaucracy. However, the United States courts of appeals have ruled that an alien may appeal a reinstatement order within 30 days of the reinstatement period. Filing an appeal does not automatically grant a stay of removal, and the person must file a stay of removal. Conversely, being removed does not preclude a person from filing, or proceeding with, an appeal challenging the reinstatement. This can be done even from outside the United States. The DHS has a policy of returning any alien who succeeds in obtaining relief from removal in a court.
If the DHS reinstatement order was issued in a different jurisdiction from that where the original order of removal being reinstated was issued, the person appealing may have a choice of which court of appeal to appeal the case in.
Exceptions.
There are two main kinds of exceptions:
Prior to the passage of LIFE Act, exceptions were carved out only for HRIFA and NACARA Section 202 applicants.
Related procedures.
A "Just Facts" summary by the Immigration Policy Center identified a few other summary removal practices similar to reinstatement of removal: