Chicago DUI lawyer comments on the significance of a DUI on immigration status

This Chicago DUI lawyer has represented immigrants before and will continue to do so. There's always extra time spent with any client I have if they are a non-citizen of this country. There are additional considerations for every non-citizen with a criminal charge in Illinois. Any plea of guilt or finding of guilt could give cause to deportation proceedings or a denial of citizenship or permanent resident status. Most recently, these issues were at the forefront of the Chicago DUI case of Rigo Padilla(he was not my client). Mr. Padilla was charged with a DUI and came to the attention of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) before he was ever arraigned on the DUI charge as I posted here. Now comes news that Mr. Padilla has won a stay of deportation

December 10, Chicago, IL

Rigo Padilla, the undocumented student whose fight to stay in the country has ignited a movement on his behalf, says he has been allowed to stay in the United States for one more year.

The apparent reprieve -- which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would not immediately confirm -- came less than a week before Padilla, 21, was supposed to leave Dec. 16 for his native Mexico, where he hasn't been since he was 6.

"It's official," Padilla said this morning after his lawyer met with immigration officials in Chicago. He smiled ear-to-ear as he held up a letter from ICE confirming his application for a one-year stay was granted.

"I promise that I'm going to work hard and go to school and graduate from college," he said. "I hope my case can be an example" of the thousands of other undocumented immigrants hoping to stay in the country long enough to potentially win permanent legal status under immigration reform.

Padilla's immigration status was discovered when he was arrested for drinking and driving earlier this year. The decision to stay the deportation of came during a meeting with ICE officials in Chicago today.

It is true, non-citizens with criminal charges do face additional challenges based on their status. In Illinois, an admonishment is given at sentencing to any non-citizen, and in my experience, citizens as well, as codified by law at 725 ILCS 5/113-8. Here is the admonishment:

"If you are not a citizen of the United States, you are hereby advised that conviction of the offense for which you have been charged may have the consequences of deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization under the laws of the United States."

While Mr. Padilla now knows at least what to expect for the next year, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of Illinois defendants who wait in limbo about the impact their immigration status may have on criminal charges against them.