Baton Rouge Legal Blog

As someone interested in coming to the United States or someone who is already here, it's important that you grasp the rights you obtain within the country. In the case that you're accused of a crime, it's those rights that become important in protecting you against deportation and other serious penalties.

It is not always easy for those speaking a non-native language to understand legalese and charges that are placed against them. For that reason, you should always look for someone to work with who is completely bilingual. A good translator means a world of difference when it comes to defending yourself in court.

As many Louisiana immigrants may attest, thousands of people come to the United States when they are unable to find jobs in their countries of origin. In fact, many later say they were living in such poverty that they felt it was better to risk illegally entering the U.S. than try to survive another day in their circumstances. Such situations often lead to immigration detention, as it did for one man in another state who had been living, working and raising a family in the United States for approximately 14 years.  

The man had held several types of jobs since crossing a U.S. border from Mexico more than a decade ago. He said those who believe immigrants come here to steal jobs from U.S. citizens are often mistaken because his own experience has taught him that immigrants often merely agree to do jobs no one else is willing to do. The husband and father of three young children says he was working in a meat processing factory when Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers raided the building.  

U.S. immigration law instructs ICE officials to detain pregnant women in Louisiana and elsewhere who have not yet entered their third trimesters if their paperwork is not in order when they cross U.S. borders. A 23-year-old woman was approximately four months pregnant when she was detained. Sadly, she suffered a miscarriage in an immigration detention center, which she says happened because officials denied her request for emergency medical attention. 

The young woman asked that reporters not disclose her identity because she feared repercussions for herself and her family members. She says she began cramping and bleeding not long after being detained and begged ICE officers to help her obtain medical attention. Her pleas were reportedly ignored, and she eventually suffered a miscarriage. She also wound up choosing voluntary departure and was sent back to her country of origin, El Salvador.  

A woman who emigrated from Guatemala to the United States recently told reporters about the many challenges she and her family have faced along the way. She came here seeking asylum; yet, not only has that not been granted, her husband, who also fled their country of origin, is now facing possible deportation. It all began when the woman's family was supposedly threatened by gang members because she and her husband were affluent. They are now entangled in a situation to which many Louisiana residents can relate. 

The woman is a licensed nurse and her husband is a business owner. She says they were doing pretty well financially, until gang members started demanding money while threatening them with violence. It reached a point where she and her husband, parents of two young children, determined they needed to seek asylum in the this country.