Missouri High Court Sides With Illegal Immigrant In Adoption Case

The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled in favor of an illegal alien who had lost her child after she was jailed following an immigration raid.  The effect of the ruling is that the Missouri Supreme Court is holding that state adoption laws apply to illegal immigrants.  The mother, Encarnacion Bail Romero was arrested in an immigration sweep of a poultry plant and eventually sentenced to two years in Federal Prison for Aggravated Identity Theft.  Another couple was helping Romero's family take care of her son after his arrest.  The couple was contacted by another couple about adopting the child.  Their adoption was granted on the basis that Romero had abandoned her child.  Romero has been contesting the adoption since her release from prison in 2009.  The child was born in the United States and is a citizen.  The Missouri Supreme Court ruled that state adoption laws were not followed in this case when the mother's parental rights were terminated.  The Court ordered a trial regarding Romero's parental rights.

The case had generated a great deal of international interest.  The Guatemalan consulate and the ACLU had filed written briefs on the case and Guatemala's ambassador to the United States had watched the original arguments in November.  The court recognized that immigrants have the same parental rights as anyone else.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Elgin Actively Helping ICE Find Illegal Immigrants

Elgin has made it clear that it wants to help U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents track down illegal aliens involved in criminal activity.  Last week the Elgin Police Department announced that they have become the first local police agency in the area to have one of its officers join a federal task force that tracks down foreign born gang members with questionable residency status.  This move is being done to strengthen Elgin's relationship with ICE.  Currently, all foreign born people arrested in Elgin have their identities checked through the Immigration Alien Query database to verify their immigration status.  ICE has a contract with the City of Elgin to house ICE detainees for up to 72 hours in Elgin jails.  This gives ICE an opportunity to investigate the immigration status of people arrested and place a detainer on them.  The officer joining the federal task force will help track down people released by mistake before ICE was able to place a detainer on them.  Back in June, Elgin Police announced that two detectives had been assigned to the Regional Document and Benefit Task Force which tracks down people who create fake and fraudulent documents.  ICE reports that they have arrested over 280 gang members in the region so far this year, and over 4,000 nationally.  ICE credits the cooperative efforts of local police agencies for the arrests.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Penn. Mayor Vows To Take Immigration Fight To Supreme Court

The mayor of Hazelton, Pennsylvania has vowed to take the striking down of his crackdown on illegal immigrants to the Supreme Court.  In 2006, Hazelton Pennsylvania passed an ordinance that assessed fines against landlords who rented to illegal immigrants, denied business permits to companies that gave jobs to illegal immigrants and required prospective tenants to register with the city and pay for a permit to rent in the city.  Last month, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia struck down the ordinance because it usurped the federal government's exclusive power to regulate immigration.  Appeals courts are split over whether a state or a municipality have the right to enforce laws dealing with immigration.  The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear oral arguments over a 2007 Arizona law that prohibits employers from knowingly hiring illegal aliens.  Following the passing of the Hazelton Pennsylvania ordinance in 2006, dozens of towns throughout the country enacting similar measures.  

We have been reporting consistently on efforts to deport legal aliens who have been convicted of criminal offenses.  We will continue to report on the evolving issue of legal and illegal immigration and the impact it is having on our criminal courts and our clients facing criminal prosecution and possible deportation.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Feds Arrest 600 Illegals With Criminal Convictions

The Department of Homeland Security has announced that they just concluded a 3 day sweep in which about 600 illegal aliens with criminal convictions were arrested.  Most of the illegal aliens arrested will be deported but 22 of them may be prosecuted for illegally entering the United States after they were deported.  Most of the arrests were made in Atlanta, Florida and Puerto Rico.  Those arrested came from over 60 different countries.  All, except for 24 of those arrested, had not been turned over to immigration officials when they were released from prison.  Immigration and Customs Enforcement estimates that at least 1 million illegal aliens with criminal convictions are currently in the United States.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

American Fragmentation

I noticed today in the Drudge Report the following articles:

- Texas lawmaker wants Arizona's immigration law for state...

- California lawmaker: Deport children of illegal aliens...

- This is Alabama; we speak English,' candidate says. . .

Basically, Texas is on its way to becoming a police state like Arizona. In California, Congressman Duncun wants to deport newborns of illegal aliens. In Alabama, gubernatorial candidate Tim James would change the law to administer the drivers' license exam only in English. Such a law would have prevented my father from obtaining his Driver's license in the 60s since he only spoke Greek. Eventually, like most immigrants, he learned English.

Amazingly, more than 90 congressional representatives are in support of federal legislation to eliminate automatic citizenship for children born on US soil to illegal aliens. As a society, if we agree to take the civil liberties from one ethnic group, we open the door for any ethnic group to be persecuted in the future. Today "they" start with the Latinos; what group will be next in line? Remember when we placed Japanese Americans in concentration camps during WWII?

So how does this relate to criminal law? In order for these types of policies to take effect, laws will be written with criminal and civil penalties. More criminal laws? I wonder what a 10 year old would be legally required to do if they found out that they were illegally in the US? Would the kid be required to surrender? Would the kid be a fugitive for continuing to hide? Are we going to have hideouts in the US for kids pursued by the immigration police?

The criminal courts is where much of the fight is going to take place. I am confident that our judicial system will defend the Constitution and protect our civil liberties.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

What To Do If Questioned By Police About Your Immigration Status In Arizona?

On April 23, 2010, the state of Arizona passed a law which allows the police to ask any person for proof of lawful residence or citizenship if they have reasonable suspicion to believe that he/she is in the country illegally. A warning to all citizens with dark complexions: bring your passports while traveling through Arizona because you may end up in a federal transfer detention center waiting your turn to be brought before a judge.

Having read the Arizona Bill, I can tell you that honest, hard working, but illegal aliens are now in a collision course with federal and state law with dire consequences for themselves and loved ones.

If you are an illegal alien and are questioned by the police, the best way to protect yourself is to remain silent. The fact is that you have no legal obligation to disclose any personal information to any police officer. Further, if the police officer insists, ask for an attorney immediately. You have constitutional rights and under the 5th amendment of the US constitution as applied by the US Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona, you have the following rights when questioned by the police if you are in custody or not free to leave:

1. You have the right to remain silent; and

2. You have the right to consult with an attorney.

Don’t forget that what you say to the police can be used against you. If you tell the police officer that you are in the US illegally, he/she can arrest you immediately without a warrant. After arrest, they can either take you to a detention center for transfer to federal custody or charge you with "trespassing" in the State of Arizona which can be a misdemeanor or felony depending on the circumstances. After you serve your time for violating the Arizona trespass law, you are then taken into federal custody to be deported. Generally, while in deportation proceedings, you will be in federal custody while your case makes it through the courts.

Basically, if you are legal but have a dark complexion, make sure you bring your travel documents when in Arizona. If you are in the US illegally, don’t say a thing if questioned by the police because you will have the state and federal governments waiting in line to put you in jail, and take your property through fines and forfeiture laws.

The Arizona law is going to be overturned or strictly limited by the courts on various constitutional grounds. I am confident the drafters of the legislation were aware of the constitutional limits, but decided to ignore them in their attempt to deal with the crime and violence caused by some illegal aliens.

To say the least, a “misguided” way of dealing with an otherwise legitimate problem.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us at 1-800-228-7295

Colorado Supreme Court Rules Immigrants Tax Records Are Private

The Colorado Supreme Court issued an important decision that caused great anger among the Colorado Hispanic community.  An investigation was launched by Colorado authorities after a man told police that his identity had been stolen and he believed the identity theft occurred from a tax preparation agency that catered to the Hispanic community.  Police obtained a search warrant and seized the tax records of the agency.  Under federal law, tax returns are confidential.  Police seized thousands of pages of tax returns and were able to uncover about 1,300 people who were using false identities.  Dozens of people were arrested and many were actually deported.  The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the search warrant was flawed because it was overly broad and did not state the identity of specific names or specific individuals.  The tax preparation agency catered to a heavily Hispanic population in an agricultural part of Colorado.  Illegal aliens, even though they are here illegally, are still required to pay income taxes.  If the court had ruled otherwise, it would have given law enforcement a new and powerful tool to investigate and prosecute illegal aliens.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.