Because of the great significance of immigration consequences of crimes in the lives of immigrant defendants, and their families, it is essential to obtain expert advice from immigration counsel during the defense of a criminal case.  The following sections give advice on how to find immigration counsel who are competent to analyze the immigration consequences of criminal cases, see § 3.43, infra; what to cover during the initial consultation, see § 3.44, infra; the importance of obtaining continuing advice throughout the criminal case, see § 3.45, infra; and the process of handing the client over to immigration counsel after the final disposition of the criminal case has been achieved.  See § 3.47, infra.

Other

FINDING IMMIGRATION COUNSEL
The Immigration Advocates Network (IAN) is excited to announce the launch of ImmigrationLawHelp.org (www.immigrationlawhelp.org), a new website to help low-income immigrants find free or low-cost legal help. The website provides information about more than 900 nonprofit immigration legal services providers in all 50 states. Using data from IAN's recently launched National Immigration Legal Services Directory http://www.immigrationadvocates.org/nonprofit/legaldirectory), ImmigrationLawHelp.org was designed to address the lack of reliable information available to low-income immigrants by providing an easy-to-use online directory of legal services providers. In addition to the ability to search for nonprofit legal services by state, county, and detention facility, the website allows users to find organizations by languages spoken, types of legal and other services provided, and specific areas of legal assistance. It is available in English and Spanish.