Fact check: What are the legal grounds for deporting someone with legal status in the US?

1. Summary of the results

Based on the analyses provided, there are several established legal grounds for deporting individuals with legal status in the US:

Traditional Criminal-Based Grounds:

• Crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMTs) - even decades-old convictions can trigger deportation proceedings for green card holders ^[1]
• Aggravated felonies, controlled substance offenses, firearm offenses, domestic violence, and multiple criminal convictions ^[2]
• Serious crimes including rape, murder, or fraud ^[3]
• Even minor or nonviolent offenses can result in deportation ^[2]

Administrative Violations:

• Lying on immigration forms, abandoning U.S. residence, and failure to remove conditions for conditional residents can lead to green card revocation ^[4]
• Helping someone enter the US illegally or terminating conditional permanent resident status ^[3]

Current Enforcement Expansion ^[5]:

The Trump administration has dramatically expanded deportation grounds beyond traditional criminal-based removals:

• Invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to bypass standard legal procedures ^[6]
• Expedited removal proceedings that bypass immigration judges entirely ^{[6] [7]}
• Targeting anyone without valid status, including those with no criminal history ^[8]
• Aggressive detention of long-time residents, asylum-seekers, and immigrants with pending legal relief ^[8]

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original question fails to capture the dramatic shift in enforcement priorities that occurred in 2025. While traditional deportation grounds focused primarily on criminal convictions, the current administration has fundamentally altered the landscape ^[8].

Key missing context includes:

• ICE is now casting a wider net, targeting individuals regardless of criminal history ^[8]
• Having pending petitions or court cases no longer provides protection unless specifically approved with additional steps taken ^[8]
• The 287(g) program expansion and increased workplace raids have significantly broadened enforcement reach ^[8]
• Green card holders are being detained upon re-entry even with long-resolved criminal records ^[9]

Beneficiaries of expanded enforcement:

• Immigration enforcement agencies benefit from increased funding and expanded authority
• Private detention facilities profit from the surge in detentions ^[8]
• Political figures supporting strict immigration policies gain electoral advantages from demonstrating aggressive enforcement

Alternative viewpoint: Immigration advocates argue that these expanded grounds represent a severe breach of rights under U.S. immigration law and violate due process protections ^[6].

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question contains no explicit misinformation but suffers from significant omission bias by failing to acknowledge the current enforcement reality.

Key biases include:

• Temporal bias: The question implies static legal grounds when enforcement has dramatically escalated in 2025
• Scope limitation: Focusing only on "legal grounds" without acknowledging that current practices may bypass traditional legal procedures ^[6]
• False security assumption: The phrasing suggests that having "legal status" provides meaningful protection, when current enforcement targets long-time residents and those with pending legal cases ^[8]

The question's framing may inadvertently mislead individuals with legal status into believing they have stronger protections than currently exist under the 2025 deportation surge ^[8].