Can a Deportation Order Be Stopped With the Calderon Settlement?
If you’re married to a U.S. citizen and still carrying an old Massachusetts deportation order, you have probably asked yourself: can a deportation order be stopped at this point, or is it already too late? For a defined group of New England families, a federal settlement called the Calderon Settlement says the answer can be yes.
An immigration lawyer can review your specific order, your marriage, and your timeline together and tell you honestly where you stand, because in a case like this, guessing costs real time. If you want that clarity today, call Brooks Law Firm at (617) 245-8090 for a free consultation.
The Calderon Settlement comes out of a federal class action, Calderon Jimenez v. Mayorkas, approved by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on January 16, 2025. In plain terms, it lets certain noncitizens married to U.S. citizens ask the government to reopen and dismiss an old removal order, clearing a path toward a green card instead of deportation, and it limits ICE enforcement against them while that request is pending.
The settlement runs through January 16, 2027, and it works differently from most ways a deportation order can be challenged, which is worth understanding before you assume your options have run out.
What Is a Deportation Order, and How Would You Know You Have One?
A deportation order, more formally a final order of removal, is what an immigration judge enters once a case in immigration court is over and the person has lost, or when someone misses a scheduled hearing entirely and is ordered removed without being there (an “in absentia” order). Once an order becomes final, meaning the appeal window has passed or an appeal was denied, it is enforceable, and ICE can act on it unless something changes the underlying case.
Some people know exactly when and why they received a deportation order. Others don’t, especially if the order is years old, came from a hearing they never knew about, or followed a lawyer who never fully explained what happened. If you’re not sure whether you have one, an immigration attorney can check your record and tell you clearly, usually within days.
How a Motion to Reopen Can Reopen a Closed Removal Case
Once a removal order becomes final, the law doesn’t treat it as permanently closed. The tool for asking an immigration judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals to look at a case again is a motion to reopen removal proceedings, and it’s different from an appeal.
- An appeal argues the judge made a mistake based on the record that already existed.
- A motion to reopen asks the court to consider something new, whether that’s new evidence, changed conditions, or a marriage that didn’t exist when the case was decided.
The general rule is strict: a motion to reopen must be filed within 90 days of the final order, and a person is normally allowed to file only one. Federal regulations carve out a short list of exceptions to that 90-day, one-motion limit, including changed country conditions in asylum cases, orders entered when someone missed a hearing they never knew about, and motions to reopen and terminate removal proceedings that both the noncitizen and the government agree to file together. That last category, a joint motion, isn’t limited by the usual time or number restrictions at all.
That’s the mechanism behind the Calderon Settlement. Because ICE has agreed in advance to “presumptively” join a properly documented request from an eligible class member, the resulting motion to reopen can move forward as a joint motion no matter how long ago the original order was entered. That’s a meaningful difference from trying to reopen a case on your own outside the settlement, where the 90-day deadline usually applies unless you fit a narrow exception.
Does Being Married to a U.S. Citizen Stop Deportation?
Marriage to a U.S. citizen is often the fact that finally opens a door, but it’s worth being direct about what marriage does and doesn’t do by itself. Filing Form I-130, the petition a U.S. citizen files for a noncitizen spouse, does not pause or cancel an existing removal order on its own. USCIS can approve an I-130 while someone is in removal proceedings, or even after a removal order has already been entered, because petitions and removal cases run on separate tracks. An approved petition is not the same as the deportation risk going away.
What marriage does is create eligibility for relief that can address the removal order directly, once a case is actually reopened. Depending on the situation, that might mean a marriage-based green card, cancellation of removal argued in front of an immigration judge, or, for the specific group the Calderon Settlement covers, its joint motion to reopen and dismiss a New England removal order. Which path fits, and whether Calderon is even the right tool for a given case, depends on where the noncitizen spouse lives, how the original order was entered, and where the I-130 stands.
The Calderon Settlement: A Different Path for Married New England Families
For eligible families in Massachusetts and the rest of New England, the Calderon Settlement offers a version of the joint motion above with the government’s cooperation already built in. Among its core requirements, it applies to noncitizen spouses of U.S. citizens who have a final removal order, haven’t already left the country under it, live in or are detained in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, or Maine, and have an I-130 pending or approved. ICE has agreed to presumptively join a properly documented request, and while the settlement is active, its Boston field office will only pursue an arrest, detention, or removal against a class member after weighing their pending petition and finding a genuine threat to public safety or national security. That limit works alongside other Massachusetts protections, like the state law restricting ICE activity in courthouses, schools, and hospitals, though neither one replaces the other.
None of this is automatic, and none of it lasts forever. The settlement closes on January 16, 2027, and every piece of it, from the presumption in your favor to the limit on enforcement, depends on submitting a request that actually meets the settlement’s terms. Getting ICE to agree to reopen a case is also not the same as receiving a green card. That comes next, often through Form I-485, and as of September 18, 2026, adjustment of status filings fall under a new, stricter public charge standard that didn’t exist a few weeks ago, so timing the green card filing matters just as much as timing the reopening request. A Calderon Settlement attorney can walk through the full eligibility picture and help build a request ICE can act on.
What to Do If You Think Your Family Qualifies
If your family might fit this picture, timing matters more than it may seem. Any request under the Calderon Settlement has to reach ICE before the window closes on January 16, 2027, and building a complete, well-documented package, something EOIR’s own filing rules can be unforgiving about, takes time you don’t want to lose to a late start. The same is true if a standard motion to reopen outside the settlement turns out to be the better fit, since the 90-day clock or a narrow exception will already be running.
Start by getting a clear, honest answer about where you stand. Brooks Law Firm can review your removal order, your marriage, and your I-130 together, and tell you plainly whether the Calderon Settlement, a standard motion to reopen, or another form of relief fits your situation.
A deportation order from years ago doesn’t have to be the last word for your family. Call Brooks Law Firm today at (617) 245-8090 to schedule a free consultation, and let us give you an honest look at where your case stands.
