How the United States Makes Migrants ‘Pay’ for Their Crimes—and Then Moves to Deport Them
In a new piece for Rewire, Immigration Reporter Tina Vasquez tells the story of Ingrid Encalada Latorre, 34-year-old mother of two U.S.-born children who has spent the last seven years paying for a crime she committed – both in cash and in time served – and nonetheless is facing deportation back to Peru.
According to Alisa Wellek, executive director of the Immigrant Defense Project, Latorre’s situation illustrates a number of problems undocumented immigrants face in the criminal justice system: criminal defense attorneys who lack the resources to properly advise undocumented immigrants, and immigration attorneys who will take any cases that come their way, often choosing quantity over providing quality legal counsel.
The result is often undocumented immigrants who miss the opportunity to effectively fight their cases and stay in the country. Seemingly innocuous mistakes, like not making a person aware of the immigration consequences of court proceedings, are incredibly common, according to Jennifer Piper of the American Friends Service Committee, who tells Rewire that she’s actually seen more people adversely affected by “mediocre legal advice” than “straight up terrible advice.”
Read more on Latorre and the growing problem is “crimmigation” in How the United States Makes Migrants ‘Pay’ for Their Crimes—and Then Moves to Deport Them.
KJ