Were you witness to a serious crime, and are you now at risk to being deported because you are an undocumented citizen? According to the Business Insider, you may be able to use your unique situation in order to fight for reprieve from your deportation trial. The Ninth Circuit recently brought up a viable argument concerning immigration when they talked about deporting witnesses before a suspect’s trial. The federal government has tried to focus their attention on deporting illegal immigrants with criminal pasts. For example, if you are an illegal immigrant and committed a violent crime like battery or assault, the police are likely to send you to trial and then deport you if you are proven guilty of your offense.

Yet many of these cases can’t be proven without witnesses. For men and women who live in concentrated areas with other illegal immigrants, those witnesses are at risk to deportation too. In a recent case, the criminal was released from his case when the court was not able to dig up the evidence that they needed in order to prove he had committed his suspected crime. This was in part because a key witness had recently been deported back to his home country. The Ninth Circuit determined that illegal immigrants who are witnesses to a crime should not be deported ahead of the suspect’s trial. They say that in a recent case, had the court delayed an immigrant’s deportation, they could have pieced together the mystery of the crime.

Jonathan Leal-Del Carmen was convicted of bringing immigrants into the country illegally, but his key witness was sent back to Mexico as a result. The fiasco called the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to rule that deportation of witnesses favorable to the defense is not permitted in the circuit. This means that if you are an illegal alien at risk to deportation and you witnessed a crime that is going to trial, you cannot be deported until your services in court are no longer needed. Sometimes, delaying a deportation trial in this way can even lead to reprieve, allowing a witness to remain in the United States for years to come.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals officially declared that if an illegal alien can prove beneficial for the defense, that immigrant gets to stay in the country can can’t be deported until he or she is no longer useful in the court proceedings. Admittedly, if you have not been charged with a crime, you may be able to avoid all deportation complications. Normally, the United States will only send people back to their homeland if they think that they are a threat to the United States in some way or another. This can be because of their criminal track record, because they are an illegal narcotics trafficker or addict, or because they smuggled other immigrants into the US.

Under Obama’s recent ruling, more and more immigrants are now permitted to stay in the US under a deferred action program. Any immigrants who are enrolled in or have graduated from high school or are in the military and entered the United States before 16 may be eligible for reprieve. They also must be under 30-years-old to apply. States have had varying reactions to this law. While some are extending their benefits to the immigrants, others have balked at the idea. If you have been threatened with deportation because of your immigration status, then talk to an immigration attorney to get information about how to fight your charges. If you were witness to a crime, then make sure to work this into your case in order to remain in the United States!