Hi there,
I have been trying to find information on what to expect if someone is deported back TO Canada.

Our story in a nutshell:

My husband is a Canadian citizen (I am a U.S. citizen) and has been living in the U.S. on a permanent resident alien card since 1986. He is now incarcerated and has received notice of an upcoming deportation hearing from US Immigration. What I'm trying to find out is, IF he does indeed get deported, will they send him back to Canada immediately upon release from prison? :confused: Or, since he is also supposed to be on probation after release, is it after that that he goes back? When he gets back, does his crime/record follow him there or is he then free and clear?

If anyone can help answer my questions or point me in the right direction, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks!

This is any easy question for me, considering I was in the same boat, and deported back from California State Prison.

Due to the constant change due to 9/11, Homeland Security, etc., some of the prisons actually have immigration before your release date.

On your release date, Immigration has 7 days to pick you up, or the prison will just release you. Of course as they have already notified him, he will be going in front of an immigration judge.

He can choose to fight deportation, or accept it.

If you fight it, you are held in custody, and will be transferred to a Federal Immigration Centre. You can apply for bail. I hear some people actually have been released.

According to the law, if you are convicted of 5 misdomeaners, or have been sentenced to 1 year or more, you are a no bail, 100 percent being deported.

If you choose to accept deportation as I did, the judge will decide how many years before you may apply to return to the USA. In my case they said 20 years!

I sat in a Federal Immigration Centre for 5 weeks in El Centro California. The Feds, will contact the US Embassy in Ottawa, and confirm his Canadian birth. Once it is confirmed, his case will be handed to the transportation department.

In my case, they called me out at 5am out of the blue, was handcuffed, driven two streets to a small airport, and with two INS officers, we boarded a commuter flight for LAX airport. Both INS guys were alright. We boarded a Alaska Airlines flight from LAX to Vancouver.

Upon arrival at Vancouver, the RCMP meet the flight, handcuff you over the handcuffs you already have on!, take you into custody, check you out to see if your wanted, and release you.

Your USA sentence freezes, in Canada you are free, you have no parole, nothing. However should you ever in your lifetime be back in Florida for 72 hours or more, you have to sign in with parole!!!

Again laws are constantly changing, so anything can change, and of late, nothing is changing for the better.

They did ask where in Canada I wanted to go, which I actually said Montreal, but they flew me to Vancouver anyway.

If you have any questions at all, feel free to ask.

Good luck.

THANK YOU so much for your response Robb!

So, he could possibly get picked up BEFORE he gets released? That would be great! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

He will not be fighting it. He's really looking forward to starting with a fresh clean slate back in Canada. His is a one time 3rd degree felony (sex offense, victim-less internet sting) and he will have a very tough time finding work, I am sure. Not to mention the whole registry thing. :eek:

Question: what does it mean when you say "your USA sentence freezes?"

Again, thank you so much for answering our questions. At least now we have some idea of what to expect.



This is any easy question for me, considering I was in the same boat, and deported back from California State Prison.

Due to the constant change due to 9/11, Homeland Security, etc., some of the prisons actually have immigration before your release date.

On your release date, Immigration has 7 days to pick you up, or the prison will just release you. Of course as they have already notified him, he will be going in front of an immigration judge.

He can choose to fight deportation, or accept it.

If you fight it, you are held in custody, and will be transferred to a Federal Immigration Centre. You can apply for bail. I hear some people actually have been released.

According to the law, if you are convicted of 5 misdomeaners, or have been sentenced to 1 year or more, you are a no bail, 100 percent being deported.

If you choose to accept deportation as I did, the judge will decide how many years before you may apply to return to the USA. In my case they said 20 years!

I sat in a Federal Immigration Centre for 5 weeks in El Centro California. The Feds, will contact the US Embassy in Ottawa, and confirm his Canadian birth. Once it is confirmed, his case will be handed to the transportation department.

In my case, they called me out at 5am out of the blue, was handcuffed, driven two streets to a small airport, and with two INS officers, we boarded a commuter flight for LAX airport. Both INS guys were alright. We boarded a Alaska Airlines flight from LAX to Vancouver.

Upon arrival at Vancouver, the RCMP meet the flight, handcuff you over the handcuffs you already have on!, take you into custody, check you out to see if your wanted, and release you.

Your USA sentence freezes, in Canada you are free, you have no parole, nothing. However should you ever in your lifetime be back in Florida for 72 hours or more, you have to sign in with parole!!!

Again laws are constantly changing, so anything can change, and of late, nothing is changing for the better.

They did ask where in Canada I wanted to go, which I actually said Montreal, but they flew me to Vancouver anyway.

If you have any questions at all, feel free to ask.

Good luck.

I was deported back to Canada 4 years ago. IN my case it was a federal sentence so I got shiped to the FDC [ federal detention center ] 7 months before my release date, they have a INS facility right outside the fence and everyone there is deportable, that way you can start your immigration procedings early and are ready for deportation when the time comes.
In my case the INS officers uncuffed me in the car at the boston airport and walked me to the plane. The airline gave me the whole back row.
On arrival in toronto airline crew took me to the front of the line for customs and a minute later I was walking the streets a free man after 9 years ,, which was fun and scarey too.

Thank you for sharing your story as well sandbaged.

So far, we are still up in the air not knowing WHAT is going to happen. At his last scheduled teleconference with the imm judge, he was forgotten. They never called him. So now we don't know what is going on. Will he or will he not be deported?? It's so frustrating!

Sorry I haven't updated this thread. I forgot about it.

Well, Hubby did get deported. His final order of removal was in place before his DOC time was up. He was due to be released on 3/7/08 and ICE picked him on 3/3/08. They held him for approx 2 months while travel docs were being finalized. On 5/8/08 he was flown to Toronto with 2 US Marshalls - no handcuffs! - and released into the custody of the Canadian MP's, I believe. They questioned him about how he was treated in detention in the US and then released him. :D