Immigration
Our Truth Project is dedicated to making sure clients understand the true penalties of criminal convictions, including impacts on housing, employment, loans, education, military service, and immigration status. A criminal conviction can have particularly serious consequences for noncitizens, resulting in deportation, inadmissibility, or denial of immigration relief. Our immigration unit counsels clients regarding the consequences of criminal convictions on their immigration goals and negotiates to reach better outcomes. In Padilla v. Kentucky (2010), the United States Supreme Court held that defense attorneys have a constitutional duty to advise noncitizens about the immigration consequences of a guilty plea. Additionally, prosecutors must “consider the avoidance of adverse immigration consequences in the plea negotiation process as one factor in an effort to reach a just resolution.” (Pen. Code, § 1016.3(b).) We take our Padilla duties seriously, working closely with clients, prosecutors, and the court to secure the best possible results for our noncitizen clients.