Presently, a person undergoing a deportation hearing may continue to accrue time toward what is necessary to apply for suspension of deportation. Under the new law, the period of continuous presence will end when the person receives a notice to appear at his deportation hearing. It is unclear when this provision of the new law becomes effective. The new law will limit individual absences to 90 days and total absences to no more than 180 days. Only time will tell how individual judges will interpret this enhanced hardship requirement.
Current law permits a showing of hardship to the individual undergoing deportation proceedings.
Under the new law, only hardship to qualifying relatives will be relevant. Therefore, unless the applicant has qualifying relatives, he is ineligible for suspension of deportation. This is an important development because under current law persons in exclusion proceedings have few of the rights which are accorded to those in deportation proceedings. For example, a person in exclusion proceedings has no right to bail, to adjustment of status, to voluntary departure, or to suspension of deportation. Cancellation of removal is a discretionary form for relief.