The justices of the Supreme Court of the United States may have thought they made it pretty clear in March 2010 that immigrants who have been charged with crimes must be told of the consequences of a guilty plea when they decided Padilla v. Kentucky. But earlier this month they revisited the case and the implications it has had on immigrants in New Jersey and across the country. Though immigrants throughout New Brunswick are told that if they plead guilty to criminal charges they put themselves at risk of deportation, individuals who were charged with crimes prior to March 2010 may not have been and they want to know if Padilla can be applied retroactively.
Federal program may be hope for undocumented children
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is a new way to prevent undocumented individuals from being deported, as long as they arrived in the country before the age of 16. Though many immigrants without the legal right to be in the country came as adults seeking a better life, there are a number of people who have grown up in this country, brought by their parents when they entered the country without legal permission. For many of these children and young adults, they had no choice as to whether they would come here and many of them don't or can't remember the countries they were born in, meaning a deportation would be devastating.
New Jersey lawsuit could change mandatory immigrant jail policy
For the past eight months, a 53-year-old man with a green card has been incarcerated in a Monmouth County jail. Though born in Jamaica, he has lived in the United States for over 17 years, his two daughters live in the country, as do his grandchildren. It is obvious that this grandfather has made his life in the United States and he has lived a relatively calm life. The one exception is that in 1995 he was apparently convicted of marijuana possession, and it was that one event that led to him being jailed and awaiting a deportation hearing.
Without a co-signer, 22 year old may violate student visa
A22-year-old man came to the United States with the goal of earning a nursing degree. The young man started at a community college and had been getting ready to transfer to a four-year program when his mother lost her job. Up until that point, the student had been receiving monthly checks from his parents in Mexico. When his financial resources dried up, he struggled to keep up with his finances, so he decided to apply for a loan.
