A Trend Toward Expedited Removal For Loved Ones of US Citizens Using US Tourist Visas

In recent months, there seems to be an increasing number of aliens detained at US ports of entry. In some cases, the detained aliens are removed from the United States using expedited removal. This article briefly explains what appears to be an increasingly common situation.

In recent months, this author, along with other Immigration attorneys in Bangkok, have noticed an increasing number of expedited removals at US ports of entry. More and more, it seems that non-immigrant aliens are being turned away at US ports of entry on the basis that they are undisclosed intending immigrants. This might not be the general policy of the Customs and Border Protection Service or the Department of Homeland Security. Although, it provides this writer with the chance to explain expedited removal and how it can impact the US Immigration options of a foreign loved one.

In the cases that this author and his colleagues have seen, the foreign visa holder was detained when attempting to gain admission to the USA on a tourist visa. In these cases, the foreign national was a girlfriend, wife, fiancee, or loved one of a US Citizen. After questioning, some travelers were made the subject of baggage searches, body searches, and detainment while officers made a decision as to the disposition of the case. In many cases in the past the prospective entrant was accorded an opportunity to voluntarily withdraw their application for entrance, board a plane, and go back to their home country (the home country was usually Thailand in this author's experience). At the present time, there seems to be a number of instances where a Customs and Border Protection official finds the entrant not only inadmissible, but uses expedite removal to send them back to their country of origin. This usually results in the foreign significant other being banned from the USA for a minimum of 5 years.

How can it be that a CBP officer has the ability to remove an alien attempting to enter the US on a valid visa? Pursuant to Section 302 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), which became effective April 1st 1997, amending Section 235(b) of the INA, the Customs and Border Protection service was given the authority to impose expedited removal upon aliens attempting to enter the USA. For the purposes of this article, the most often cited reason for expedited removal of foreign loved ones attempting to enter the US on tourist visas occurs in a case where the Customs and Border Protection official deems an alien with a tourist visa to be an "immigrant who is not in possession of a valid unexpired immigrant visa, reentry permit, border crossing identification card, or other valid entry document required by [The Immigration and Nationality Act], and a valid unexpired passport, or other suitable travel document, or document of identity and nationality if such document is required under the regulations." [212(a)(7)(i)(1)]

Essentially, CBP seems to be using expedited removal when they believe an alien is secretly an intending immigrant using a tourist visa to quickly enter the United States and adjust status to permanent residence. A similar situation could be avoided should a foreign fiancee use a K1 visa to enter the USA. In cases involving a foreign spouse, a K3 visa or an Immigrant visa could be used to forestall expedited removal on the aforementioned grounds.


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Benjamin Hart is a Member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and Managing Director of Integrity Legal (Thailand) Co. Ltd, a firm located in Bangkok, Thailand. Contact them at 1-877-231-7533, +66 (0)2-266-3698, or info@integrity-legal.com. To learn more on this and other issues please see: US Visa Denial or K1 visa