Legal Question in Immigration Law in Michigan

If it is the first time you entered the U.S. without inspection, it is a misdemeanor punishable by fine or up to 6 months imprisonment (or both). If you have entered, or will enter, the U.S. without inspection more than once it is a felony punishable by fine or up to 2 years imprisonment (or both).

This email is for general information purposes only and does not create an attorney-client relationship.

I have never had a client criminally prosecuted for entering illegally. However, entering without inspection will generally bar a person from adjusting status in the United States (or obtaining any type of immigration benefit, with some exceptions, of course), as well as prohibiting that person from being able to re-enter the United States for 3 or 10 years once they depart.

If a person who entered illegally was to be detained or arrested, they could be turned over to ICE & eventually deported.