Despite the political leanings of the current White House Administration, Baltimore is still a relatively friendly place for immigrants. Many residents of our beautiful city see the value that immigrants bring to the U.S. through their hard work, culture, and own upstanding values. However, those with an immigrant status should still stay prepared by covering all the necessary details of your immigration and consulting an immigration lawyer immediately if you have reason to believe that your immigration status could be called into question.
As a crucial part to not only the makeup of Baltimore but the entire U.S., immigrants need protection more than ever as deportations continue to rise and the Trump Administration continues to expand its power over immigration. In Baltimore, the situation could be considered even more dangerous, as the city has a record of mishandling immigration cases. If you live in Baltimore, contact Raymond O. Griffith for any of your immigration attorney needs. We can help protect you from deportation, gain asylum, and earn citizenship, and more. If the current political client hasn’t been enough to push you to seek legal representation, here are a few reasons that you should seek representation for a successful immigration.
3 Reasons to Seek Immigration Help in Baltimore
1. The Sanctuary City Doesn’t Always Protect You — Despite it’s status as a sanctuary city, undocumented residents in Baltimore aren’t always protected to the extent that they should be. Even in established sanctuary cities, there are reported cases of law enforcement agencies sharing information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Of course, ICE uses this information to detain more undocumented immigrants.
It may be Baltimore’s status as one of the biggest sanctuary cities that can actually make it a bigger target than some other cities. It was one of the first targets in a series of city-wide raids this past July when ICE attempted to deport thousands of immigrants in one swoop. Furthermore, there are certain parts of Maryland that have partnerships with ICE. Should you happen to be detained in one of them, you’ll be in more urgent need of representation than if you had been in Baltimore.
2. ICE Has Been Known To Set Traps — Despite rules and laws in place to protect immigrants of a certain status, ICE often goes out of its way to trap immigrants in order to deport them. One of these traps took place in Baltimore last year, as residents took the legal path to try and obtain citizenship, but were instead met with handcuffs after concluding a staged “green-card meeting.” A federal judge ruled that the practice couldn’t be continued, but this was after the arrests were made. Courts may backtrack the work of federal agents, but they can’t be depended on to act proactively. ICE will continue to try and find loopholes, as one ICE official has been quoted as saying, “We are in the removal business.” Even if you’re going the legal route to gain citizenship, you should still have a lawyer on hand in case ICE attempts something similar with your case
3. The Trump Administration Continues to Expand Its Power — In efforts that are supposedly to “end the backlog,” and lower detention center populations, the Trump Administration has expanded its power to deport immigrants sooner. In July of last year, the amount of expediting power that immigration authorities had increased in a major way. At this point, if you haven’t been here for more than two years, already started the process of gaining asylum, or have a pending immigration related court date, then you are eligible to be deported almost immediately. If you haven’t gotten the process of gaining citizenship, legal residence, or asylum in Baltimore, it could be an important factor in keeping you in the United States, should you encounter ICE.
Establish an Immigration Attorney Today
No matter what your reason for immigrating to this country, you have as much right as anyone else to a fair shot at U.S. citizenship. Unfortunately, with the ways laws are set up in the United States, you may need an immigration lawyer to get that fair shot. To make sure that you don’t get deported and that your business, family, or other immigration case goes as smoothly as possible, trust Raymond O. Griffith for all of your immigration law needs.
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