What are the different statuses (stati?) of residency in the US?
For example: at the top is the born & raised US Citizen. For example, me. I can vote, work, travel in and out of the country at will (within certain limitations, of course), and never have to worry about deportation.
At the bottom is the illegal alien, who, I assume, faces deportation at any moment.
Anyway, what other levels of residency are there in the US? What do the different terms (landed alien, resident alien, etc.) mean? Which ones have the most priveleges and which ones have the least?
Generally speaking for a Mexican citizen there are:
Full Citizenship
Legal Resident Alien
Temporary Resident Alien
Tourist Visa & Student Visa
Temporary Work Permit
Border Crossing Permit
The one with the most privileges w/o being a citizen is Legal Resident Alien. Temporary Resident Alien only lasts for a year or two and you must return for an interview to see if you merit LRA. The others are temporary and only here for specific reasons.
Citizen (natural born, due to many different reasons)
Naturalized
Permanent Resident
Conditional Permanent Resident
Foreign or Guest worker
Student
Tourist
Undocumented (illegal) alien
Not that there’s any hierarchy inherent above. Obviously non-citizens can be deported for any number of things, but there’s no formal social class attributed to any of these statuses. Everyone is entitled to the protection of the United States Constitution, regardless of your status. Even illegals will be treated constitutionally until they’re shown the door.
I am a Temporary Legal Resident Alien. This is a standard step between immigrating on a Visa (I came K-1, which is the fiancee Visa) and Legal Permanent Resident (holding a ‘green card’). We had to apply for permanency two years after the temporary status (‘temporary green card’) was granted.
When the conditions are lifted, I will be a Permanent Legal Resident Alien. I will have all the rights and responsibilites of an American citizen, aside from voting and jury duty.
Absolutely untrue. A Legal Permanent Resident can be deported at anytime, not just within the first two years. There are specific crimes that are defined as felonies under the immigration law that may be different than what might standardly be otherwise considered a felony under general criminal statutes. LPR’s can be deported for Crimes of Moral Turpitude as defined by the law. They can be deported if they were legally inadmissable at the time of entry or adjustment of status. Drug abusers and drug addicts are deportable. LPR’s that have been convicted of a domestic violence offense are deportable. LPR’s that are convicted of any crime and sentenced to at least a year, even if the sentence is suspended, and even if the crime is not a felony, are deportable. If you committed a misdemeanor 20 years ago but is classified as an aggravated felony under the immigration law, you’re deportable.
The only absolute defense against being deported is citizenship.
Naturalized citizens can be stripped of citizenship, can’t they? Wasn’t John Demjanjuk in that category? If I recall correctly, he was stripped of citizenship then re-naturalized (or de-stripped).
As far as I know, natural-born citizens cannot be made stateless (though since my mother was an illegal immigrant at the time of my birth, I sometimes wonder whether the anti-illegal-immigrant hysteria will result in my being retroactively declared illegal myself).