custody status and deportation

Hello,
My ex-husband is currently in jail serving a year's sentence for assaulting me. At the end of that sentence he is, theoretically, due for deportation (he is Turkish, here on a green card).
Our custody agreement gave me residential custody of the kids, and gave him 50% visitation rights. Will this still stand if he's deported? Can he try to force me to let the kids come visit him? If they go there I will certainly never see them again.

I'm also wondering if I can legally have the children's last name changed. They have a unique name, and the minute I register them in school I worry that they will be traceable. I'm dealing someone who told me that he would rather see his kids dead than being raised by another man, so I am taking their safety very seriously.

Thanks,
Carol

You didn't say what state you were in. I guess it really doesn't matter when you are talking about a non resident anyway. I am not a lawyer, but I have worries that you will have problems after he is released from prison. If he is on this quest, the formost thing on his mind is how to make your life miserable and he has plenty of time to plot. If I were you, I would move as far as possible from the area and find out how to change the children's names. I wish you luck. I knew a 21 year old turkish woman who married a man here. He was 48. They had 2 children and after being beaten almost to death, she and the children went back to Turkey with her mother. The men are fierce and forceful in their opinions and actions. I wish you the best.