Criminal Defense of Immigrants

(B)  Basic Elements.  The investigation of the case of a noncitizen client includes a number of special facets, apart from the investigation of an ordinary criminal case.  In representing an immigrant, counsel should:

1.                   Obtain criminal history information from all relevant computer databases.  Remember that they are all incomplete in different ways, and sometimes the only way to get a complete picture is to get them all.  See § § 3.28, et seq., infra.

2.                   Think through all alternative criminal dispositions of the case, so as to suggest alternatives when the immigration expert points out disastrous effects of one or another possible result.

3.                   Call an immigration expert or research the client’s exact immigration situation yourself.  See § § 3.33, et seq., infra.  Verify what the client has told you about immigration status.  Identify all forms of immigration relief for which the client is or may become eligible, and determine the chances of the client being successful in applying for them.  Jointly figure out a target result in the case that will avoid or minimize the adverse immigration effects as well as the criminal effects.  Learn what the immigration lawyer needs to do to achieve the best result for the client, and suggest how you can handle the criminal case so as to help out in the immigration process.  On obtaining information from the DHS to verify the client’s immigration status, see § § 3.31, et seq., infra.