Can a person be deported for a crime, if they are a U.S. citizen for less than 7 years?

Question

Okay, so I heard about this new law, which I am not sure of. I was told a person who commits a crime more than once can still be deported, if they have been a U.S citizen for less than 7 years. Is this true?

Answer 1

I seriously doubt it.  Once you have US citizenship they can't just take it away like that, at least not in this country.  You may be a guest in one of America's luxurious prisons but deportation isn't in the cards.

What crimes are you contemplating?

Answer 2

It's not really a new law, as laws like this have come and gone since John Adams was President (see the Alien and Sedition Acts).

Anyway, yes, but it is very difficult. See United States v. Hamby, a US Supreme Court case upholding this law. Hamby was a US citizen, who was found in Afghanistan among terrorists, under some suspicious circumstances (but not such that it is certain he was helping them. He claimed to be doing relief work.). Anyway, he now resides in Saudi Arabia, because the gov't took away his citizenship and Saudi took him in. So yes, under severe circumstances, it can happen.

Basically, it takes a lot, and generally requires that the other country agree to take them. You're not going to get deported for burglary, or even murder. But if you are doing evil deeds tied to America's enemies, yes we will deport you.

This is far more reasonable that the Alien & Sedition Acts under Adams (2nd President), which literally deported people for publicly saying that the President was too fat (so much for the 1st Amendment, which Adams said only applied to "true" statements). Jefferson (3rd President) repealed that law, for obvious reasons.

Answer 3

It's partly myth, partly true. Once you are a citizen, you are granted full protection of the constitution. But, if they find something improper in the way you became a citizen, they have a statutory limit of seven years to find you and bust you. For example, say you got your green card through marriage and the marriage was a sham. They have seven years to bust you. Why seven years? The number has more to do with how our society is influenced heavily by Judeo-Christian tradition. Hebraically, seven years is also usually the length of time a creditor has to collect on a debt before it can no longer be enforced in court. Seven years is also the typical length of time bankrupcy will stay on your credit report. (But it can be as many as ten!) Seven years was the length of time that a slave would have to be escaped before becoming legally a free man back in the day! So there you go! A little U.S. history!