Attorney number 3 ?

As some may know and many others may not know, if you plead guilty to a crime, regardless of how minor, and you are a none U.S. Citizen you will be deported and exiled from the country, because it is a "conviction" under immigration law.  In some cases people are told to plead guilty because it is the easy way out and they will not serve time.  Which may be a great deal for a U.S. Citizen but if you are not, it can have dire consequences in the future.  People who are none Citizens are served a double punishment, the one that is dished for the crime and the other dished by immigration.  This means that a U.S. Permanent Resident, who has been in the country for 15 years and pleads guilty to petty theft, like stealing a snickers bar from a convenient store, or for a traffic violation, or possession of a minimal amount of a drug, this would get misdemeanor charges or very minor felony charges but then after pleading guilty they would be deported and barred from ever re-entering the country.  This seems extremely harsh form something so minor, but it is the reality of what many none Citizens are facing.  This page pretty much describes it better than I ever can.

The good news is by law a none Citizen must be advised of the immigration consequences before entering a plea of guilty, otherwise it is a violation of their rights and in many, if not all, states you are allowed to go back and have your case reviewed so that if your rights were violated and you can prove that if you would have plead not guilty the outcome of the case would have been different you can fix it and remove the conviction.  The bad news is most people don't even know their rights were violated until they are picked up by immigration years after the fact which isn't a problem in some states but if you live in Illinois like we do, it is a major problem.  In Illinois, the only way you can go back and have your case reviewed for rights violations or for a judge to have jurisdiction to review it is if you fall under one of the following:

1. If you are on probation for the crime in question
2. If you are on parole for the crime in question
3. If you are in state custody for the crime in question

Considering that most people do not find out about the immigration consequences until they are arrested by immigration officers which can be years later, many none Citizens are facing deportation and are blocked from any type of relief.  So it doesn't matter if they are married to U.S. Citizens or have U.S. Citizen children or if they served in the military or how long they have been in the country, they will be deported and barred from the country.

This is what we are facing.  Jose is not going to get a 10-20 year punishment, he's going to be exiled and even though he's been in the country for 17 years and he has a U.S. Citizen wife and child, he has no way to fight his case.  Even though he pleaded guilty to a minor charge he will be exiled because it's been six years since he pleaded guilty and he doesn't fall under the requirements to have his case reviewed. I've sent letters to the States Attorneys Office, I've actually gotten a response but even though they are sympathetic, they refuse to help us. 

Last week I was present at the Chicago Bar Association Legislative Committee meeting.  I was invited by Mr. Little B because he and another attorney were presenting an amendment they want to make to Illinois law that would allow anyone to come back at have their cases reviewed if their rights have been violated regardless of when they find out about it.  As it is now, someone who has been sitting in prison for 18 years on a 20 year sentence can have their cases reviewed but someone who as has completed a 5 year sentence can not.  The change would not mean that these cases would be thrown out, it would just allow them to be heard in the first place.  This amendment would greatly help Jose but I don't if it will be in time.  After this meeting I stopped by to see Mr. L. and asked him about Joses other case.  He basically said that we are facing a brick wall and he didn't want to try to get our case reviewed because we'd be blocked right away because of the jurisdiction issue.

This is where attorney number 3 comes in, that will be a total of 4 attorneys working on Jose's case.  Criminal and Immigration wise, not to mention the countless I spoke to before I hired anyone.   I spoke with Mr. Little B. shortly after talking to Mr. L.  He basically said to get a second opinion and he referred me to another criminal attorney, let's call him Mr. R. .  I told him I don't know how speaking to another attorney will change the current laws.  His response was: just like you get a second opinion for a health issue you get one for a legal issue, call him.  So I called, the consultation is free.  The attorney he's referred me to has been successful at these cases, as a matter a fact he recently won a very similar case not too long ago.  This kind of gives me a little more hope.  I've sent him all the relevant documents over the weekend but I have not heard from him yet.   I called him earlier today but he was not available.  I'm crossing my fingers that something good will come of this.  Wish us luck!