Posted on December 05, 2017 in Immigration

There is perhaps no group more in immigration news in recent months than unaccompanied minors, especially those coming from Latin America. In the past few years, ever since an explosion of gang violence in Central and South America, a steady flood of unaccompanied minors has come to the border between the United States and Mexico, seeking asylum or other forms of relief. However, many have found not relief, but suffering of a different kind.

Migration Statistics Show Trends

The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) states that while children from all over the world immigrate or seek asylum in the United States, as many as 75 percent of them have been boys from El Salvador, Mexico, and Honduras, at least since 2009. There are multiple reasons for this, none of which have to do with any kind of gang-related or otherwise malicious motives, as has sometimes been alleged.

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 Posted on December 05, 2017 in Personal Injury

Do graduated licenses help to reduce teen car accident deaths in DuPage County and throughout the state of Illinois? According to a recent article in the chtribune, since 2007—shortly before the state instituted its graduated license program—rates of teen car crash deaths have declined by more than 50 percent. That data comes from the Illinois Secretary of State office, and experts cite the graduated license program as the reason for fewer traffic fatalities involving teen drivers in the state.

What should you know about current teen car accident fatalities and the graduated license requirements under Illinois law?

Teen Motor Vehicle Death Rates Decline By Half in the Last Decade

In 2008, Illinois began requiring teens to abide by graduated licensing laws. According to a recent statement from Secretary of State Jesse White, the graduated license program should receive much of the credit for the stark reduction in teen motor vehicle deaths over the last 10 years.

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 Posted on November 30, 2017 in Family Law

When you are going through a divorce, the last thing you need is your future ex-spouse stalking you. Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence and can add stress and even more discomfort to the divorce process. If you believe your future ex-spouse is stalking you during your divorce, read on.

What is Stalking?

A pattern of behavior that makes you feel nervous, scared, harassed, or in danger is defined as stalking. Your future ex-spouse may be stalking you if they are:

• Always calling, texting, and emailing you even when you ask them not to
• Constantly driving by your home
• Running into you in public on a regular basis
• Using social media to follow and friend your social media followers and friends in order to keep an eye on you
• Spreading rumors or publishing personal information about you on social media
• Giving you gifts on birthdays and holidays when you do not want them

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 Posted on November 25, 2017 in Family Law

A guardian has the same responsibilities to a child as a child’s biological parent. An individual may obtain legal guardianship of a child in Illinois because a child’s biological parents cannot properly care for them, a child’s biological parents passed away in a tragic accident, a minor child is living with a disability, or senior adults do not have the ability to care for themselves.

Types of Guardianships

In Illinois, an individual can become a permanent legal guardian, a guardian ad litem, a standby guardian, or a short-term guardian. Let’s take a closer look at how each of these four types of guardianships are defined.

• Permanent Legal Guardian: A permanent legal guardian has the same duties any biological parent would have and must provide the child with food, shelter, clothing, and education, and the other necessities of life.

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 Posted on November 23, 2017 in Immigration

The United States has governorship over a handful of territories such as Puerto Rico or Guam, referring to them as insular areas. A U.S. insular area is defined as a nominally self-governing territory which looks to the United States for guidance and various benefits. Given the horrific situation in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, questions about the lawful status of the Puerto Ricans have been asked by those not in the know, especially in regard to the possibility of relocating to the U.S. mainland.

Citizenship and Relocation

As of 2017, the U.S. Congress had extended citizenship to the residents of all inhabited U.S. possessions except for American Samoa, which is an unincorporated territory (a territory must incorporate, or organize in a certain way, for its people to be eligible for citizenship). Thus, residents of all other U.S. possessions such as Puerto Rico, the Northern Marianas Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have the same citizenship rights as anyone born on the U.S. mainland. The Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau are sometimes named as U.S. possessions, but this is erroneous—they are sovereign states and their nationals are citizens of their respective countries, with no claim to U.S. citizenship.

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 Posted on November 23, 2017 in Personal Injury

If you have a young child who requires a car seat, do you know that you have installed the seat properly such that your child is less likely to sustain fatal injuries in a motor vehicle accident in Lombard? Most parents know their young children need to use car seats in order to stay safe and to abide by the law. However, according to a recent article in the chtribune, car seats are often improperly installed or parents use car seats that are not age-appropriate.

What does Illinois law say about car accident injury prevention and safety seats? And what can the recent article teach parents about promoting safety and preventing injuries in the event of a traffic collision?

Illinois Child Passenger Protection Act

Recognizing the severity of auto accidents in DuPage County and throughout the state of Illinois, legislators created the Child Passenger Protection Act (625 ILCS 25/). The statute explains that the law was written because the General Assembly determined that a significant number of passengers below the age of 8 riding in motor vehicles—vehicles which are most frequently operated by a parent—annually die or sustain serious physical injury due to not being placed in an appropriate child passenger restraint system. Indeed, motor vehicle crashes are cited as the number one cause of death for kids ages 4 to 14 years old.

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 Posted on November 16, 2017 in Immigration

While no one wants to contemplate the idea, Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) does make mistakes. After a certain period of time, these stop being mistakes, and become agency policy. Such has become the case—or very near the case—with ICE arrests of U.S. citizens.

While obviously, rescinding such a policy is the option most likely to restore agency credibility, in the meantime, it is imperative for both immigrants and U.S. citizens to be aware that this may conceivably be an option. It should never happen, but when it does, too often the arrestee may be caught off guard.

Recent Issues Place Deportation Detention in Focus

In late September 2017, the issue became a hot topic when U.S. citizen Isidro Andrade-Tafolla was accosted outside a courtroom in Portland, Oregon, by two people claiming to be ICE agents. They demanded his identification and accused him of being undocumented. However, his wife replied and showed her husband’s papers. The alleged ICE agents then left without any explanation to the couple.

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 Posted on November 16, 2017 in Personal Injury

Most drivers in Lombard, Illinois know that texting while driving using a handheld device is unlawful under Illinois law (625 ILCS 5/12-610.2), and using a smartphone behind the wheel can lead to a distracted driving collision. What are the risks of new high-tech gadgets in automobiles?

According to a recent article in Consumer Reports, high-tech features in new automobiles may be even more distracting to drivers than smartphones. Most specifically, vehicles with built-in navigation systems may lead to more auto accidents in DuPage County than most residents might think.

AAA Says High-Tech Automobiles May Cause Distracted Driving Crashes

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety recently explained in a study how “high-tech infotainment systems—the ones that allow drivers access to navigation, audio, and phone features—are distracting drivers for dangerously long periods of time.” While we often assume that new cars with built-in technology are safer than older automobiles, the recent study suggests that some new technologies might actually put us at greater risk for involvement in a severe or deadly car crash.

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 Posted on November 15, 2017 in Family Law

Dealing with divorce is hard enough on its own. However, when divorce is paired with the holidays, you may feel anxious, sad, and overwhelmed. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways you can cope with divorce during the holiday season, make the best out of this roadblock in your life, and experience the holiday cheer you deserve:

• Volunteer. Although you be tempted to stay at home, getting out and volunteering is an effective way to take your mind off your marital status and help those in need. Whether you volunteer at a soup kitchen, animal shelter, or local non-profit organization, you can remind yourself that life is not perfect and everyone has some type of hardship in their life.
• Focus on Your Children. If you have children, you should make an effort to ensure your divorce does not stop them from having fun and being happy during the holidays. Try to create a holiday social schedule with your ex-partner so that your children receive the opportunity to spend time with both of their parents. In addition, be sure to keep some old holidays traditions and create new ones.

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 Posted on November 09, 2017 in Immigration

In September 2017, the federal administration began to float the idea of lowering the already-low refugee cap numbers for FY 2018, citing an allegedly insufficient vetting process, especially for those from countries which have historically sponsored terrorism. Given the somewhat frenetic pace of government in the eight months since the changeover, the story has somewhat gotten lost in the national media, but to those who have family members who might qualify for status, this is a very real concern. It is important to understand the truth of the situation and not fall prey to the misinformation that abounds.

The Process is Extremely Comprehensive

One of the most common misconceptions about refugee resettlement in the United States is that they are simply permitted to walk into the country, so to speak; the average layman is only familiar with standard visa vetting (if that), and often wrongly equates it with refugee processing.

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