Consulate, nonprofits to provide legal aid to immigrants

Consulate, nonprofits to provide legal aid to immigrants

LEGAL
Wage theft and run-ins with law enforcement are top concerns for families 'living in the shadows' EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – It's seven simple yet powerful words: “You have the right to remain silent.” But that's a phrase that many migrants who come to Melissa Lopez's office have never heard of before. If they had, they would not be seeking help to avoid deportation or crushing another major legal problem. “State law requires that a person show identification. But the migrants we see don't know they have the right not to talk to the police; they think they are required to disclose all of their information,” said Lopez, the executive director of El Paso's Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services. "Most of the time, Immigration doesn't have the information they…
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Larger state investment in civil legal aid is needed

Larger state investment in civil legal aid is needed

LEGAL
The BDN Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom, and does not set policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com. Maine's chronic shortage of attorneys for low-income criminal defendants has rightly gotten a lot of attention. The US and state constitutions guarantee those accused of crimes a right to a speedy trial, a pledge that Maine is in danger of not fulfilling as the state's program struggles to recruit and retain lawyers. Maine also faces a critical shortage of lawyers to represent low-income Mainers in civil cases, such as those involving evictions, protection from abuse and discrimination. In Maine, there are more than 360,000 low-income people who are eligible for free legal services, and most of them will face at least one…
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