ICE Holds (I.C.E. Holds)

You Need a Dedicated and Skilled Attorney In Your ICE Hold Immigration Case

At the Law Office of Paul M. Marriett, we have had clients face ICE holds (Immigration and Customs Enforcement Hold, commonly referred to as I.C.E. Holds/ICE Holds) for Illinois criminal charges in Rockford and the surrounding areas that would seem routine. A common example of what can happen is an individual uses non-governmental identification in some capacity that may be considered illegal by the arresting officer.

Simply walking across a highway after a car had broken down and producing a “non-official” ID to a police officer resulted in a misdemeanor charge of “misuse of identification.” Any crime stemming from the misuse of identification in Illinois can have serious ramifications on an immigrant’s status.

15 ILCS 335/14b, for example, is the Illinois statute that controls “fake IDs.” In some cases, you can obtain an identification card from a grocery store or other location that has all of your true and factual information. However, if you use that ID in an official capacity (such as during a traffic stop), you could potentially be charged with misuse of identification.

Further, in some situations an undocumented immigrant may come to the United States and not realize that he or she can legally own property, such as a car, or they might be afraid of registering things through the state because they believe it can tip the government off to their immigration status. In some cases, that kind of background check can happen — but only if the state really wanted to check the immigration status of everyone paying a few hundred dollars to register a vehicle each year.

What occurs more frequently is a law-abiding immigrant is driving a car that is registered to an alias. In cases where that immigrant is pulled over, he or she will show an unofficial identification card with their true and factual name to the police officer. Not only can that immigrant then be charged with a misuse of ID, but the state of Illinois can then charge him or her additionally with obstruction of justice, which can be found at 720 ILCS 5/31-4, based on trying to evade by the use of two names.

How We Can Help

The Law Office of Paul M. Marriett offers the skill and experience you need to receive a favorable outcome in your immigration case. Thefirst goal when you come into the office with a friend or family member with ICE holds is to first find out whether there is an attorney representing the client in a criminal case. If you don’t already have counsel for that charge, attorney Paul M. Marriett would be happy to give your loved one a tenacious legal defense against their Illinois criminal charge.If you do have an immigration lawyer, we will work with the other attorney to first address whether or not the case can be dismissed. WE’ll investigate whether there is a good chance for a successful outcome at trial, and if that outcome is unlikely, we can help your attorney tailor a plea that will have less severe consequences to the immigration status of the accused.Second, if you can afford to bond your loved one out of the state charge, we can work with the local Rockford I.C.E. agent to see whether we can find out what the immigration bond amount may be once I.C.E. takes custody of them. If it looks like it is something you can afford, the best step is to then bond your loved one out of the state charge, get the immigration bond amount and the same day make sure someone bonds them out at the Chicago field office for the immigration bond.It sounds complicated, but if this is done in concert, we often can have your loved one released right from Rockford. If this doesn’t happen or the immigration bond is too high, we can enter a formal appearance with the Chicago Immigration Court and request a bond reduction that can often cut thousands off the suggested amount. In that case, a few days may elapse from when your loved one is taken from a county around Rockford and moved to a separate facility.

Finally, if removal is ordered by I.C.E. and those proceedings start at the Immigration Court in Chicago, there are various petitions we can file in order to stay or even cancel the removal of our client and fight the imposed ICE holds.

For a free consultation, call the Law Office of Paul M. Marriett at (815) 391-0089 to set an appointment, or contact us securely through our website. We are a Rockford, Illinois-based law firm, but can and will travel for clients outside of our immediate coverage area.

You need a dedicated and skilled attorney that is adept at the immigration aspects of you or your loved one’s criminal case. Contact us immediately to get your questions answered.

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