Local attorney encourages immigrants to know their rights

DELMARVA. – President Donald Trump signed a slew of rapid-fire executive orders on his first day in office, directly targeting immigrants of all backgrounds.

Local immigration attorney, Eduardo Gonzalez told WMDT attorneys have been working around the clock to represent their fearful clients.

“There’s still a lot of uncertainty, not only for attorneys, but also for government attorneys, for judges, everyone’s just basically waiting to get their orders as to what the laws are going to be, how the government is going to approach it,” said Gonzalez.

One of the President’s executive orders calls for the expansion of expedited deportations. Gonzalez urged anyone who is approached by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement to know their rights.

“Let’s say you do get detained by ICE, first thing you’re going to want to do is say, ‘Hey, can I talk to my attorney?” Explained Gonzalez.

“What they’ll normally do is, they’ll give you a chance to talk to your attorney. Usually, they’ll have you call them at some kind of secured facility, and then the attorney will basically break down what the next process is, what the steps are,” He added.

Gonzalez believes most immigrants targeted would be those who have criminal records or who have been deported before, but he stresses that ICE will not discriminate under these new orders.

“The laws are probably going to get stricter, so it’s going to be a situation where, for a lot of attorneys, you’re going to get a flood of cases, but with less tools and less weapons to handle your cases,” said Gonzalez.