Criminal Defense of Immigrants

(A)  In General.  Unless you have yourself researched the specific immigration questions facing your individual client, expert immigration advice is absolutely necessary.  There is no substitute for consulting an immigration expert to find out (a) the client’s exact immigration situation prior to any new conviction, and (b) the exact immigration effects for the client of each of the various possible alternative dispositions of the new criminal case.  See N. Tooby & J. Rollin, Safe Havens: How to Identify and Construct Non-Deportable Convictions (2005).

                Crimes-related deportation defense is very complicated, and a specialty of its own.  Many immigration attorneys specialize in what is called business immigration: obtaining work permits, labor certificates, and visas for employees of corporations.  They may never, or only very rarely, handle a removal case or try to obtain cancellation of removal for a client convicted of a criminal offense.  When seeking immigration counsel for a client with criminal issues, it is necessary to inquire specifically into potential immigration counsel’s experience with criminal issues.