deportation

deportation — noun

1. an official action that expels a foreign national from a country for violating i

1.nounB2
Definition

an official action that expels a foreign national from a country for violating immigration rules or committing a crime there.

Example

The government ordered the deportation of the Watanabe family after their visa expired.

government ordered the deportation of + person

Ms. Aylin Kaya's deportation was halted by the court while her appeal was pending.

passive: [person]'s deportation was halted by

Common collocations
  • mass deportation
  • forced deportation
  • deportation order
  • deportation proceedings
  • deportation hearing
  • face deportation
  • order deportation
  • halt deportation
  • carry out deportation
Synonyms
  • expulsion

    broader term — can refer to removal from a group, organization, or country, not only for immigration violations

  • removal

    more technical legal term used in official immigration documents; less common in everyday speech

  • banishment

    historical/formal term for forcing someone to leave a place; rarely used in modern immigration law

Antonyms
  • admission

    the legal process of allowing a foreign national to enter or stay in a country

  • naturalization

    the process by which a foreign national becomes a citizen, making deportation impossible

Grammar Patterns

deportation of [person]

face + deportation

order/carry out/halt + deportation

Usage Note

Often appears in legal and news contexts. Frequently occurs in fixed phrases such as 'deportation order', 'deportation proceedings', and 'face deportation'.

Common Mistakes

The government ordered his exile last week.' (when speaking about a non-citizen).
The government ordered his deportation last week.
'exile' means forcing someone to leave their own country; 'deportation' applies to foreign nationals only.

Word family

  • deport
    verbB2
  • deportee
    nounC1
  • deportable
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words involve forcing someone to leave a place, but they differ in legal scope and context. Deportation is the most specific legal term: a government order requiring a foreign national to leave the country for violating immigration rules or criminal law. Expulsion is broader — it can refer to removal from a school, club, or organization, or from a country for political reasons. Removal is a formal, technical synonym used in official immigration documents and court rulings, often in the phrase 'removal proceedings'. Exile is distinct: it usually means being forced to leave one's own home country, often for political reasons, and carries a historical or literary tone. For example, a court orders deportation of an undocumented worker; a dictator sends a political opponent into exile. A student caught cheating faces expulsion from the university.

deportation ↗expulsion ↗removal ↗exile ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • deportation order
  • deportation hearing
  • deportation proceedings
  • deportation notice

Adverbs

  • forcibly deported
  • summarily deported

Phrases

  • face deportation
  • order deportation
  • halt deportation
  • carry out deportation
  • be subject to deportation

Prepositions

  • deportation from
  • deportation to

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

From Latin 'deportare' — where 'de-' means 'away' and 'portare' means 'to carry'. The original sense was simply 'to carry away'. In ancient Roman law it came to mean 'to banish' or 'to send into exile'. French adopted it as 'déportation', and English borrowed the word in the 1600s, initially referring to the transportation of convicts to overseas colonies. Over time the meaning narrowed to the modern legal sense of a government forcing a foreign national to leave the country.