Immigration Terms and Definitions

Deportable Alien
An alien in and admitted to the United States subject to any grounds of removal specified in the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Departure Under Safeguards
The departure of an illegal alien from the United States which is physically observed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official.

Deportation
The formal removal of an alien from the United States when the alien has been found removable for violating the immigration laws. Deportation is ordered by an immigration judge without any punishment being imposed or contemplated.

Country of Citizenship
The country in which a person is born (and has not renounced or lost citizenship) or naturalized and to which that person owes allegiance and by which he or she is entitled to be protected.

Immigration Form I-765
Application for Employment Authorization

Country of Former Allegiance
The previous country of citizenship of a naturalized U.S. citizen or of a person who derived U.S. citizenship.

Asylee
An alien in the United States or at a port of entry who is found to be unable or unwilling to return to his or her country of nationality, or to seek the protection of that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution.

Board of Immigration Appeals
The Board of Immigration Appeals, commonly referred to as the BIA, issues appellate administrative decisions that are binding on the DHS Bureaus responsible for enforcing immigration laws nationwide.

Border Crosser
An alien resident of the United States reentering the country after an absence of less than six months in Canada or Mexico, or a nonresident alien entering the United States across the Canadian border for stays of no more than six months or across the Mexican border for stays of no more than 72 hours.

Derivative Citizenship
Citizenship conveyed to children through the naturalization of parents or, under certain circumstances, to foreign-born children adopted by U.S. citizen parents, provided certain conditions are met.