RETURN DESTINATION AFTER DENIED ENTRY
A traveler refused admission is not automatically sent to the traveler’s country of citizenship in every case. Federal law contains specific rules governing the destination of removal for people arriving at U.S. ports of entry.
For specified arriving travelers whose removal proceedings began at arrival, INA §241 generally directs removal to the country where the traveler boarded the vessel or aircraft that brought the traveler to the United States.
The ordinary rule is therefore not simply “CBP sends you to your country of citizenship.”
Federal law contains a separate rule where the traveler boarded in territory contiguous to the United States or certain adjacent islands and the traveler is not a citizen or resident of that territory.
If the country identified under the primary statutory rule is unwilling to accept the traveler, the statute identifies alternatives that can include the country of citizenship, country of birth, country of residence or another country willing to accept the traveler.
For qualifying removals at the port of entry, federal law generally requires the owner or operator of the arriving aircraft or vessel to take the person to the foreign country ordered for removal.
CBP’s Visa Waiver Program carrier materials describe return on the first available transportation to the traveler’s applicable point of departure when CBP determines the traveler is inadmissible under the VWP.
A person in expedited removal who expresses fear of persecution, torture or return, or an intention to seek asylum, must be handled under the applicable fear-referral procedures rather than simply returned without that process.
No. The statutory return rules for arriving travelers generally begin with where the person boarded the U.S.-bound conveyance, subject to statutory exceptions and alternative-country provisions.
Not ordinarily. The destination is governed by the applicable removal law and practical acceptance and transportation arrangements.
A qualifying expression of fear during expedited removal triggers separate fear-screening procedures.
These government materials provide the principal return-transportation and CBP personal-property rules discussed on this page.
The return destination can depend on the arriving flight, immigration procedure and whether another country is legally and practically available.