Green Card Holders: Know Your Rights & Risks During the Second Trump Administration

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Community alert: The Trump administration is trying to detain and deport some green card holders (lawful permanent residents) because of past crimes or political activity. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents have the power to do this under immigration law in some specific circumstances, which we discuss in this guide. The Trump administration has warned green card holders that the government is monitoring social media and criminal histories. The National Immigration Law Center (NILC) urges all green card holders to learn what the law says about who can be deported and make a safety plan if you might be at risk.

How do I know if I am at risk of detention and deportation even though I have a green card?

The Trump administration is going after green card holders with past criminal records and some political activists who express opinions the administration doesn’t like. International travel is especially risky.

Green card holders may be at risk if they:

• Have any past criminal convictions, even for small things like marijuana
• Are involved in specific political activities the government disagrees with or claims are a threat to national security
• Have been outside the United States for more than six months (at one time)

Green card holders with risk factors are more likely to be targeted by ICE and CBP when they are:

• Traveling outside the United States (or leaving the continental United States, like Puerto Rico or Hawaii)
• Traveling inside the United States, especially by air, or crossing an immigration checkpoint by land near the border
• Arrested or involved with the police or criminal legal system
• Applying to naturalize
• Participating in political activism or protests

What does the law say about when green card holders can be detained or deported?

The law says ICE can detain and try to deport green card holders with convictions for:

• Any offense involving drugs, including marijuana (even if legal in your state)
• Any offense involving guns
• Any offense involving domestic violence, child abuse, or violation of an order of protection
• Two offenses that involve dishonest or “immoral” behavior, such as theft or shoplifting, assault with intent to injure, or fraud; or one such offense depending on the possible sentence
• Any offense called an “aggravated felony,” which includes a long list of types of offenses, mostly (but not all) felonies requiring a sentence of one year or more, including suspended sentences
• Any false claim to citizenship, including in situations that are not about immigration like applying for a driver’s license

Note: Immigration law has a very broad definition of “conviction.” Many old offenses that don’t count as “convictions” in criminal court do count as convictions in immigration court. For example, an old case where the plea got withdrawn after participation in a drug treatment program could still count as a conviction in immigration court.

ICE can also detain and try to deport green card holders by claiming they are a danger to the United States’ national security or that they are involved in terrorist activities, defined very broadly under federal law.

• The government used this part of the law to detain and try to deport green card holder Mahmoud Khalil because of his activism in support of Palestinian rights.
• The government may try to use this part of the law to deport green card holders by saying (even without evidence) they are connected to one of the gangs or criminal organizations the Trump administration has called a “foreign terrorist organization” and/or that they lied about these connections in their green card application. This includes two Haitian gangs called Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif and eight Latin American criminal organizations including Tren de Aragua and MS-13.

The government can also question green card holders at the airport about whether they have “abandoned” their lawful permanent resident status if they have been outside the United States for longer than 180 days. The government can assume a green card holder has abandoned their status if they’ve been gone longer than one year (continuously). 

Why can it be especially risky for green card holders to travel outside the United States?

• CBP can stop green card holders who are coming back from an international trip and take them to “secondary inspection” for questioning. From there, they can detain green card holders and/or start a deportation case against them.
• In some cases, the government considers green card holders to be “seeking admission to the United States” when they are at the airport or a border returning to the United States. This gives the government special authority to detain and try to deport them. The government has this extra power when:
  • The green card holder has been outside the United States for more than 180 days (at one time)
  • The government believes the green card holder “engaged in illegal activity” after leaving the United States
  • The green card holder had a pending immigration court case when they left the United States
  • The green card holder committed a criminal offense that makes them “inadmissible,” which includes many crimes such as any drug-related offense (no exception for marijuana), many theft, fraud, assault, and other offenses involving dishonest or immoral behavior, and prostitution offenses.
• There are reports that CBP is also detaining green card holders at the airport and encouraging them to sign a form agreeing to abandon their lawful permanent resident status, called the Form I-407. CBP may try to convince green card holders they can get out of detention by signing this form, but the result will be that the person loses their green card status. Green card holders have the right to defend their green card in front of an immigration judge if the government claims they have abandoned it.
• Note regarding marijuana: If a green card holder is inside the United States, the government cannot deport them for one conviction of possession of a small amount of marijuana if that is all that’s on their record. But this rule only applies inside the United States. If the person is returning from travel, border or airport officers can detain them and try to deport them for even one old or minor marijuana offense. CBP officers may also try to get the green card holder to admit to possessing or using marijuana, which the government can use to start a deportation case against them.

 What if my green card is “conditional”?

People who got their green card through their U.S. citizen spouse but were married less than two years when they got their green card have a “conditional” green card. Conditional green card holders must apply to “remove the conditions” – make their green card permanent – within the 90 days before the two year mark from when they got their green card. Conditional green card holders have the same rights and face the same risks as other green card holders. However, the deportation process can happen more quickly for a conditional green card holder because the government can refuse to lift the conditions on the green card. Conditional green card holders should take extra care to understand their risks and rights.

Know your rights!

• Green card holders have constitutional rights, including the rights to free speech, due process, and equal protection.
• In the airport, green card holders can ask to speak to a lawyer but the government does not have to allow it. You have the right to not answer any questions about your political or religious beliefs or your past conduct or activities. You have the right to not sign any documents. Do not agree to abandon or give up your lawful permanent resident status – if the government is trying to deport you, you have the right to see an immigration judge. Read more about your rights in the airport here.
• In ICE detention, some green card holders are eligible to be released on bond but ICE holds others without bond (“mandatory detention”). ICE is supposed to tell people in detention if they are eligible for bond within 48 hours of being arrested. If ICE says the person cannot be released on bond or sets a high bond, the person can ask an immigration judge for a bond hearing. It’s important to talk to a lawyer as part of your safety planning and understand whether you would be eligible for bond if you are detained in the future.
• If the government starts a deportation case, green card holders have the right to a hearing before an immigration judge to decide if they have the right to stay in the United States or be deported. In this hearing, the government has to prove the person is deportable or not admissible. This is also true for green card holders returning to the United States from international travel. The government cannot terminate green card status without giving the person the chance to fight their case in immigration court.
• Green card holders who are facing deportation might have a way to fight it, like a legal option called “cancellation of removal,” depending on how long they’ve lived in the United States and their past criminal record. Some green card holders may also be afraid to return to their country and could ask for asylum or other humanitarian protections. It’s important to talk to a lawyer to find out what options you have so you are ready to stand up for your legal rights.