Criminal Defense of Immigrants

(C)  Court Order That Has Been Vacated.  Just as a criminal conviction that has been vacated on a ground of legal invalidity can no longer support a deportation order,  a court order finding a noncitizen violated a protective order may be attacked by showing the protective order was not lawfully issued, framed, or properly served on the respondent prior to the alleged violation or the hearing concerning the violation, or on any other legal ground.[177]  See Chapter 11, supra.

If such a finding is suffered, appealing the finding will arguably delay its finality and prevent the DHS from using it to begin deportation proceedings until the appeal is over.[178]

[177] See Matter of Pickering, 23 I. & N. Dec. 621 (BIA 2003).

[178] See § 7.37, supra.