Immigration enforcement has intensified across the United States, and undocumented immigrants are increasingly being detained at workplaces, homes, courthouses, check-ins, and immigration appointments. Immigration courts are also moving cases more quickly, sometimes giving people very little time to find an attorney, collect evidence, or prepare an application. In this environment, an undocumented person should never assume that nothing can be done. Depending on the person’s history, family relationships, fears of returning home, length of residence, and experiences as a victim, an immigration lawyer may be able to file one or more applications to stop removal or create a pathway toward legal status.
No immigration filing guarantees protection from deportation. Some applications do not automatically stop ICE from making an arrest, and a motion to reopen generally does not automatically stay an existing removal order. The correct strategy must be selected quickly and may require a separate emergency request to stop deportation. Here are six of the most important options immigration lawyers are using in August 2026.
1. Applying for Asylum, Withholding of Removal, or Protection Under the Convention Against Torture
An undocumented immigrant who fears returning to their country may be able to seek asylum, withholding of removal, or protection under the Convention Against Torture. These protections may be available when a person fears persecution because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group, or when the person is likely to be tortured by government officials or with government involvement.
Asylum cases may involve political activists, religious minorities, LGBTQ individuals, domestic-violence survivors, ethnic minorities, journalists, military deserters, people threatened by gangs, and others facing serious danger. However, simply living in a violent or economically unstable country is usually not enough. The attorney must connect the feared harm to a legally protected ground and submit detailed declarations, witness statements, expert reports, medical evidence, police records, and information about conditions in the person’s country.
Asylum generally must be filed within one year after arrival, but important exceptions may apply because of changed country conditions or extraordinary circumstances. Even when a person is barred from asylum, withholding of removal or Convention Against Torture protection may still be available. These applications can be raised defensively before an immigration judge after removal proceedings begin.
2. Filing for Cancellation of Removal After Ten Years in the United States
Certain undocumented immigrants who have lived continuously in the United States for at least ten years may qualify for cancellation of removal and a green card through immigration court.
To qualify, the person generally must prove:
- At least ten years of continuous physical presence in the United States;
- Good moral character during the required period;
- No disqualifying criminal convictions; and
- That deportation would cause exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse, parent, or child.
Ordinary family separation is not enough. The case must show unusually severe hardship, such as a qualifying relative’s serious medical condition, disability, special educational needs, psychological problems, dependence on the immigrant, or inability to obtain necessary care in another country.
Immigration lawyers prepare these cases using medical records, psychological evaluations, school documents, tax returns, proof of residence, expert reports, financial evidence, and testimony from relatives and community members. Cancellation of removal is available only as a defense in immigration court; a person cannot simply file Form EOIR-42B with USCIS while living outside removal proceedings.
3. Seeking a Green Card Through a Family Member, Adjustment of Status, or an Immigration Waiver
Some undocumented immigrants may have a path to permanent residence through a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident family member. The most common situations involve marriage to a U.S. citizen, a U.S. citizen child who is at least 21 years old, or another qualifying family petition.
However, having a U.S. citizen spouse or child does not automatically erase an unlawful entry, prior deportation order, immigration fraud, criminal issue, or unlawful presence. The attorney must determine whether the person was inspected and admitted or paroled, whether the person qualifies under INA Section 245(i), whether a waiver is available, and whether the green-card case can be completed inside the United States.
Some people may qualify to adjust status before USCIS or an immigration judge. Others may need an approved family petition, an unlawful-presence waiver, and an immigrant-visa interview outside the United States. Departing the country without proper legal planning can trigger a three-year or ten-year bar and can sometimes expose the person to permanent separation from the family.
Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and VAWA applicants receive exceptions from certain adjustment-of-status violations, but the manner of entry and other grounds of inadmissibility still matter. Immigration lawyers may also file waivers for unlawful presence, fraud, certain criminal grounds, or other immigration violations when the law permits.
4. Filing for VAWA, a U Visa, a T Visa, or Special Immigrant Juvenile Status
Victims of abuse, crime, trafficking, and child abandonment may qualify for humanitarian immigration protection even if they entered the United States without permission.
VAWA
VAWA may allow an abused spouse, child, or parent of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident to file an immigration petition without the abuser’s knowledge or cooperation. Abuse does not have to involve physical violence. Extreme cruelty may include threats, coercive control, financial abuse, isolation, sexual abuse, immigration threats, humiliation, and other serious mistreatment.
U Visa
A U visa may be available to victims of certain qualifying crimes who suffered substantial physical or emotional harm and were helpful to law enforcement. Qualifying crimes may include domestic violence, sexual assault, felonious assault, kidnapping, stalking, extortion, and other listed offenses.
T Visa
A T visa may protect victims of severe labor trafficking or sex trafficking. Labor-trafficking cases may involve workers who were recruited through fraud, forced to work through threats, trapped in debt, denied wages, controlled by an employer, or threatened with immigration consequences if they tried to leave.
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status
Certain unmarried immigrants under age 21 may qualify for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status when a state family court finds that reunification with one or both parents is not possible because of abuse, abandonment, neglect, or a similar basis under state law.
These filings can eventually create a pathway to permanent residence. However, a pending application does not always automatically prevent ICE detention or deportation. Immigration lawyers may need to submit a separate request for a stay of removal, continuance, termination, reopening, or release. In May 2026, a federal court paused ICE guidance that had reduced protections for some detained immigrants with pending VAWA, U-visa, or T-visa cases, but each person’s procedural protections still depend on the facts and location of the case. (USCIS)
5. Applying for Temporary Protected Status or Another Country-Specific Protection
Temporary Protected Status may protect eligible nationals of certain designated countries from deportation for a limited period. TPS may also provide employment authorization and, in some circumstances, permission to travel.
TPS is not automatically available to everyone from a designated country. The applicant must satisfy the required nationality, residence, physical-presence, registration, and admissibility requirements. Criminal convictions or missed registration deadlines may create serious problems, although late initial filing may sometimes be permitted.
TPS does not automatically lead to a green card, and a TPS designation may be extended, terminated, or challenged in court. Still, for someone who qualifies, a timely TPS application can provide an important temporary defense against removal while the person explores family-based, employment-based, humanitarian, or other permanent options.
Other country-specific protections may include Deferred Enforced Departure, relief under the Cuban Adjustment Act, NACARA, or special programs created for particular groups. An attorney should review the person’s nationality, date of arrival, prior filings, and immigration history to determine whether a less obvious protection exists.
6. Filing Motions to Reopen, Appeals, Emergency Stays, Habeas Petitions, and Federal Court Cases
A person who already has a removal order may still have legal options. Immigration lawyers can sometimes file a motion to reopen or reconsider when:
- The person never received proper notice of the immigration hearing;
- The person missed court because of exceptional circumstances;
- A former lawyer provided ineffective assistance;
- New immigration relief has become available;
- Country conditions have materially changed;
- The person now qualifies through marriage, VAWA, a U visa, a T visa, or another petition;
- A criminal conviction was legally vacated; or
- The immigration judge or government committed a legal or procedural error.
A motion to reopen normally must be filed within 90 days and is generally limited to one motion, but important exceptions exist. For example, different rules may apply to in absentia orders, jointly filed motions, VAWA cases, and asylum claims based on materially changed country conditions.
Because most motions to reopen do not automatically stop deportation, the attorney may also need to file a stay request with ICE, the immigration court, the Board of Immigration Appeals, or a federal appeals court. A person may also be able to appeal an immigration judge’s decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals and later file a petition for review in a federal circuit court.
When ICE detention is unlawful or prolonged, attorneys may file a federal habeas corpus petition seeking release or a constitutionally adequate bond hearing. The availability of bond and habeas relief now varies significantly by federal judicial circuit, the person’s manner of entry, the legal basis for detention, and the stage of the immigration case. Emergency litigation can be especially important when ICE is attempting to deport someone before a pending application or motion is decided.
Do Not Wait Until ICE Makes an Arrest
The best time to investigate immigration relief is before an arrest, workplace raid, court hearing, ICE check-in, or deportation date. Once someone is detained, the family may have only days—or even hours—to locate the person, obtain immigration records, prepare evidence, and request emergency relief.
An undocumented immigrant should gather and preserve copies of passports, visas, Forms I-94, immigration notices, prior applications, court documents, criminal records, tax returns, marriage and birth certificates, medical records, police reports, and proof showing how long the person has lived in the United States. Family members should also know the person’s immigration registration number and keep the immigration lawyer’s contact information readily available.
Speak With a Deportation Defense Attorney
There is no single application that protects every undocumented immigrant. A strong deportation-defense strategy may involve several filings at the same time—for example, a motion to reopen, a stay of removal, a VAWA petition, and an adjustment-of-status application.
The immigration attorneys at Shepelsky Law Group represent undocumented immigrants in removal proceedings, ICE detention cases, asylum matters, cancellation of removal, family-based cases, VAWA, U visas, T visas, TPS, motions to reopen, immigration appeals, and emergency deportation-defense litigation.
Call 718-769-6352 or schedule a paid immigration consultation at www.shepelskylaw.com
This article provides general information only. Eligibility depends on the facts of each individual case, and filing an application does not necessarily prevent ICE arrest, detention, or removal.