Resident status consists of various legal categories. These categories include U.S. Citizenship, Lawful Permanent Residence, Conditional Residence, Asylee, Refugee, Withholding of Removal, Convention Against Torture, Non-Immigrant, and Undocumented (known popularly as "illegal"). Historically speaking, a great many immigrants struggled to come to the United States of America. Some escaped oppressive regimes. Others sought better opportunities for themselves and their children. Irrespective of the background, generations of immigrants knew obtaining United States Citizenship symbolized the "brass ring." An alien who aspires to become a U.S. citizen must go through the process of naturalization.
Naturalization involves conferring nationality of a state upon a person after birth. Aliens opt to naturalize for the reasons described above as well as many other reasons. For example, U.S. citizens are not deportable or removable. Additionally, foreign family members of naturalized citizens may be able to immigrate to the U.S. sooner. Finally, only citizens enjoy the fundamental right to vote. This may be especially important to immigrants who came to American shores to be free.
The first paragraph provides many categories besides U.S. Citizen. Notably, the second category on the list is "Lawful Permanent Resident" (LPR). Immigrants who have been lawfully admitted to the United States have LPR status. To obtain LPR status one must comply with procedural rules and satisfy legal requirements. Even so, immigrants who do not become naturalized may find their LPR status threatened. These individuals may be deported.
Deportation applies only to non-citizens lawfully admitted to the United States. A non-citizen may face deportation on various grounds. These grounds may include a criminal conviction for an aggravated felony (AF), a controlled dangerous substance offense, crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMT), firearm offenses, and crimes of domestic violence, stalking, crimes against children, or violations of protection orders.
