Anxious clients flood immigration lawyers with concerns and questions, particularly in this new era of enforcement. Non-citizens facing criminal charges must be advised on possible immigration consequences of a conviction by their criminal attorneys. To prepare for these clients, New Jersey lawyers can attend the “Immigration Law and Criminal Acts: Insights” a NJICLE seminar moderated by Immigration attorney Harlan York, November 28, 2017 in Fairfield, New Jersey. Laura K. Gasiorowski, of counsel at Stahl Gasiorowski Criminal Defense Lawyers, will be once again participating in this all day presentation, both as a speaker and panelist. Ms. Gasiorowski will be joined by other top immigration and criminal law attorneys, to address the complex and varied issues raised in the representation of non-citizens in immigration and criminal courts.

The course will cover topics such as:

  • Immigration detention
  • Consequences of pleas on immigration status
  • Languge, cultural and constitutional issues that arise in federal prosecutions of non-citizens
  • Sentencing issues for non-citizen clients
  • Law enforcement and courts’ treatment of foreign nationals and due process issues
  • Ethical issues
  • Post-conviction relief in New Jersey

Laura K. Gasiorowski will be presenting on the intersection of immigration and criminal law and the specific issues that arise in representing non-citizen defendants:

  • Addressing language proficiency and its importance in crafting suppression motions
  • The use of interpreters under the Court Interpreters Act
  • Due process issues when criminal suspects are arrested or held in immigration detention
  • Cultural defenses and sentencing argument particular to non-citizens

Ms.Gasiorowski draws from her personal experience representing non-citizen defendants charged with federal crimes, including one of the college students charged with obstruction of justice in the Boston Marathon bombing investigation in Massachusetts, and the al Qaeda defendant charged with capital murder in the prosecution of the bombing of the American embassy in Kenya.

Central areas of litigation in these cases included:

  • Language issues
  • The applicability of Miranda and the Fifth Amendment to interrogations of aliens outside the U.S.
  • The use of immigration detention to circumvent procedural protections accorded criminal defendants

More information on the course can be found at https://tcms.njsba.com/PersonifyEbusiness/Default.aspx?TabID=1699&productId=9541178