Crimmigration - What is It?

Posted by Matthew Green | Jul 30, 2016 | 0 Comments

"Crimmigration" is typically defined as the intersection between criminal and immigration law. Cesar Cuauhtemoc Garcia Hernandez,  a leading scholar on the subject explains that, for most of the nation's history, criminal law and procedure operated almost entirely free from immigration law and procedure.  "Criminal law and procedure was thought to be the province of prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys, and the state and federal judges who oversee criminal prosecutions every day.  Immigration law, in contrast, was confined to immigration courts."  However, all that has changed.  

"The world of criminal courthouses has collided with the world of immigration courthouses.  The substantive criminal law that defines what constitutes a state or federal crime has increasingly come to turn on a person's immigration status."  More importantly, "immigration law now frequently turns to a migrant's criminal history to dictate whether imprisonment is merited while the government decides whether to mete out immigration law's greatest sanction, deportation, and its close cousin, exclusion from the United States."

If you are not a U.S. citizen, and you are charged with a crime, you automatically have two legal systems that threaten to penalize you with incarceration, fines, probation and, ultimately, deportation.  It is dangerous for any noncitizen charged with a crime to handle their case without a good criminal lawyer.  But it is nearly as dangerous to use a criminal lawyer who does not understand immigration law.  Many times, noncitizens charged with crimes hire good criminal defense attorneys, only to find out later that they don't know how to properly analyze their clients' potential immigration consequences.  The clients are often told that they must then pay more money, to a second attorney (an immigration lawyer), to advise them about the ways in which pleading guilty to certain offenses may affect their ability to remain in the United States.

At the Law Offices of Matthew H. Green, we offer a much better option to immigrants charged with crimes.  We are Arizona's only, true Crimmigration Law Firm.   Our law firm concentrates its practice on only criminal defense and immigration law.  We have long been aware of the fact that "the world of criminal courthouses has collided with the world of immigration courthouses."  For years, our attorneys have been appearing in criminal and immigration courthouses, defending and fighting for our clients in criminal and immigration cases.  Although there are a few big law firms in Arizona that have criminal departments and immigration departments, the lawyers who handle the criminal cases don't usually practice immigration law.  And the lawyers in those big law firms who practice immigration law normally don't understand how to defend a criminal case.  

At our law firm, our lawyers work in both of these worlds.  Mr. Green has been a criminal defense attorney his entire career, which began over 17 years ago.  He and his team of experienced lawyers have years of experience fighting cases in both criminal and immigration courts.  They understand how one case affects the other and, more importantly, how it may be possible to prevent a deportation case from even coming to life if the criminal case is handled properly.  A typical day in our law firm is divided up between appearing in state and federal courts for our clients' criminal cases, and immigration courts and agencies, for our clients' immigration cases.  For our clients charged with crimes, we are often times appearing in both criminal and immigration venues on their behalf.  

WIth seven attorneys, our law firm is large enough to handle all of our clients' criminal and immigration cases.  And we're still small enough to operate very effectively as a cohesive and close-knit team of dedicated professionals.  We are Arizona's premiere crimmigration law firm, and we do criminal and immigration better than anyone else.  So, if you are not yet a U.S. citizen, and you are charged with a crime, we look forward to helping you.  Because you have a crimmigration case, and you need a good crimmigration law firm.  

About the Author

Matthew Green

Managing Partner. Green | Evans-Schroeder (formerly Law Offices of Matthew H. Green) focuses on the aggressive defense of immigrants. A native of Arizona, Mr. Green understands the difficulties that immigrants and families of immigrants face when a loved one is charged with a crime. He knows how frightening it can be for some...

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Arizona's "Crimmigration" Law Firm

If you are not a U.S. citizen, and you are charged with a crime, you automatically have two legal systems that threaten to penalize you with incarceration and deportation. Our law firm concentrates its practice on assisting foreign nationals charged with crimes to avoid deportation.

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