For any applicants currently in Removal proceedings, they may have heard the above terms used interchangeably, but in fact they are two completely different forms of relief that an Immigration Judge(s) can grant. Termination of Removal Proceedings basically means that removal proceedings against an applicant are completed and no longer pending, i.e. open, against the applicant. This means that at least for the most current removal proceedings, the applicant was not ordered removed or deported from the U.S. The applicant’s removal proceedings are considered completed, and the applicant is no longer in removal proceedings.
Administrative closure, on the other hand, simply means that the applicant’s removal proceedings are being put on hold for the time being, and that they must be reopened in the future for the removal proceedings to be resolved. Through Administrative closure, the applicant’s case is temporarily taken off the Court’s calendar. The applicant still remains in removal proceedings.
In June and ongoing months in 2011, some Memorandums of law were released by Director J. Morton that set forth factors ICE should consider when determining if a case is eligible for prosecutorial discretion. If ICE agrees to apply prosecutorial discretion to a case, then that case will be administratively closed. In this way, that applicant will not be ordered removed and can also apply for an employment card while he or she is in the U.S.