Posted on November 02, 2017 in Immigration

After the announcement that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program will be phased out after six months, 800,000 people from all walks of life are faced with questions. One group that has often been overlooked is the approximately 2,700 DACA recipients who are either serving or have signed contracts to serve in the United States military. Their situation is just as precarious as the others’, but they have arguably been betrayed more fully.

The MAVNI Program

Instituted under President Obama in 2009, the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program recruits immigrants with legal status (which DACA recipients do have) who are held to possess vital skills useful to the U.S. military, such as languages, nursing or physician’s abilities, or knowledge of mission terrain. More than 10,000 people have been recruited for the program, and to lose one-tenth of its personnel at once would be a significant issue for MAVNI and for the Armed Forces as a whole.

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 Posted on November 02, 2017 in Personal Injury

Each year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) releases a report concerning car accident statistics and fatalities on roads throughout the country. In 2016, fatal motor vehicle crashes rose again, just as they did between 2014 and 2015, according to the report.

As the report explains, in the last decade we have been seeing a generally downward trend in motor vehicle crash fatality rates. Yet in 2016, the NHTSA reported a total of 37,461 fatalities as a result of traffic collisions on U.S. roadways, which was a 5.6 percent increase from 2015, in which 35,485 fatalities were reported.

Why are traffic collisions now on the rise in DuPage County and throughout the country? And what can we do to reduce motor vehicle crash fatalities?

Getting the Facts About Fatal Car Crashes in 2016

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 Posted on October 26, 2017 in Immigration

Barring a last-minute volte-face, the President has made the decision to officially end the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals (DACA) program initiated by his predecessor. He has stated that the official date for DACA to end will not be immediately, however; rather, in six months’ time the program will officially expire.

Regardless of specific dates, this decision has the potential to cause approximately 800,000 people to either be deported or temporarily removed from the only home many have ever known. If you are one of those people, there are factors you need to know.

Undocumented Status Creates Problems

Short of achieving asylum or refugee status, there is no lawful immigration status open to undocumented people, because the undocumented are held to have committed an act that renders them inadmissible when they entered the country without inspection (EWI). It is important to note that entry without inspection is a misdemeanor, but unlawful presence is a civil violation, not a crime—both of them can render a person inadmissible, meaning that they never ought to have been admitted into the country.

Inadmissibility is a status that can be waived in very rare circumstances; however, unless you are either the spouse, child or (in some cases) sibling of a U.S. citizen, it is not generally worth the time to try. As such, this puts DACA recipients in an extremely difficult position. The strong majority of recipients were brought to the U.S. as children, meaning that their parents are almost certainly undocumented as well, which does not permit the seeking of waivers of inadmissibility. If one cannot obtain a waiver, then he or she must return to another country and wait until the bar to re-entry (assessed upon a finding of inadmissibility) expires. The bar can be anywhere from 3 years to a decade.

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 Posted on October 26, 2017 in Personal Injury

Residents of DuPage County may wonder how starting school later could have an impact on auto accident and bus accident rates around the Chicago suburbs. While the answer might not seem immediately apparent, the answer concerns drowsy driving and its effect on traffic collisions.

According to an article in the chtribune, “if school districts throughout the state [of Illinois] moved starting times to 8:30 a.m., so middle and high school students could sleep longer, Illinois’ economy would gain $1 billion within 5 years.” That economic increase would come from a drastic drop in motor vehicle crash rates, the Rand Corp. reported via a recent study.

Drowsy driving is a serious issue among teen drivers, even though it often does not get as much attention as teen driving issues such as distracted driving or impaired driving.

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 Posted on October 25, 2017 in Family Law

Child support can be a sensitive and complex matter, regardless of the child’s age or developmental stage. Yet, when dealing with special needs children, the stakes are often higher. If you are planning on pursuing support for a child with special needs, or if you expect that a case may soon be brought against you, the following information can help you better understand the laws in Illinois. You shall also learn how an experienced family law attorney can assist with your case, and why hiring one could be crucial to the outcome of your child support case.

Illinois Child Support Basics

When determining the amount of support that a parent is supposed to pay, the courts first examine the combined income of both parents. This information is then used to determine the amount of support that is needed for the child. The courts then examine the net income of each parent to determine what their share of the support should be. Parenting time may also be factored into the equation at this point, but this is typically only done when each of the parents has the child(ren) for at least 146 nights out of the year. Otherwise, the deduction may not apply.

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 Posted on October 20, 2017 in Immigration

In the recent charged climate in the United States, there has been fierce debate over how to balance free speech rights with the rights of immigrants, especially the undocumented, to be free of harassment or governmental mistreatment. Some persist in the misconception that non-citizens have no Constitutional rights whatsoever, which could easily lead to a normalization of persecution of even those who have legal status in the country. Some simply are uncertain. Immigrants do have certain rights, even if undocumented, though, and it is important to be aware of them if you or a loved one is caught up in recent events.

Constitutional Basis

The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is what grants the most important rights to all people within the borders of the United States, regardless of citizenship status. Its Equal Protection Clause states that no state may “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law.” It does not specify citizens or immigrants with status; it says persons, and as such, this clause has been construed to apply to everyone present. The Equal Protection Clause itself essentially holds that no one may be discriminated against on the basis of certain immutable characteristics like race, gender or nationality, without a compelling state interest in doing so.

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 Posted on October 20, 2017 in Personal Injury

When you are on a major highway like I-290 or I-88, it can be an anxiety-inducing experience to drive around and between numerous semi-trucks while worrying about truck accidents. Given that these highways are part of key routes for many shippers, there are often 18-wheelers moving through DuPage County.

It is stressful to wonder whether you are safe to pass a large truck, or whether you are in its blind spot. Moreover, you may even panic when you see that a trucker is attempting to change lanes, and it does not seem as if there is sufficient space to do so.

Therefore, if you drive a smaller automobile, what do you need to know in order to stay safe driving near large trucks on the highway?

Thinking Like a Truck Driver Can Help to Avoid Crashes

According to a recent article in Edmunds, it can be difficult to really understand how to drive around large trucks until you have been trained as a semi-truck driver yourself. While most of us will not be seeking out a commercial driver’s license anytime soon, at the very least, it is helpful to understand the highway from the perspective of a truck driver.

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 Posted on October 18, 2017 in Family Law

For a majority of couples undergoing the divorce process, money is often one of the biggest concerns, as bank account balances following the end of a marriage can significantly impact one’s financial standing post-divorce. Bouncing back from and adjusting to the lifestyle transition that divorce brings about can be difficult under even the mildest circumstances, but lack of proper debt division and asset disputes can further complicate each party’s attempt to overhaul their finances.

Divorce Debts and How They are Handled in Illinois State

The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act includes debts and other standing obligations as financial matters to be considered among the division of marital property. The law defines “marital property” as any property (or debts) acquired by either spouse after the marriage took place. This means any joint loans, credit lines, or accounts opened in both spouse’s names are marital property and are considered the responsibility of both parties in the event of divorce. These responsibilities can include everything from cars, furniture, and savings accounts, to stock portfolios and retirement savings plans.

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 Posted on October 12, 2017 in Immigration

Chicago is still a sanctuary city, and will remain so for the foreseeable future, according to Mayor Rahm Emanuel. However, this decision has not come without comment. The U.S. Attorney General has been highly critical of Chicago’s leadership, seeing fit to draw conclusions about the city’s crime rate versus that of Miami, ascribing the difference solely to Miami-Dade’s capitulation to the Justice Department’s request to honor immigration detainers. In what may be seen as a reaction to such talk, Gov. Bruce Rauner may be poised to sign off on the Trust Act, which could have a small but significant effect on Illinois’ immigrant population.

Is Chicago a Sanctuary City?

While there has been much ink spilled about what a true sanctuary city is, the term of art as it is understood is solely defined as a city which does not comply with federal immigration detainers. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) sends “detainers” to local police departments when they hear of someone they believe should be detained due to their immigration status. In most cities, local police comply with these “detainers,” holding the person for longer than they would otherwise be constitutionally authorized to do.

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 Posted on October 12, 2017 in Personal Injury

Many DuPage County residents know how dangerous and often deadly a collision with a large truck can be. Truck accidents happen more often than they should. Whether you regularly commute to work in Chicago and share I-88 or I-290 with semi-trucks transporting goods across the country, or if you are simply headed to a retail establishment at Oakbrook Center, you know that big rigs are much larger and heavier than passenger cars. To be sure, large trucks can cause devastating damage when they collide with smaller passenger vehicles.

According to a recent study conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, if more 18-wheelers were equipped with safety technology, we could prevent more than 60,000 crashes annually.

Large Truck Collisions Are On the Rise

The study begins from a significant data point: large truck accidents are on the rise. Between 2014 and 2015, semi-truck crashes increased by 4 percent. While that number might not sound noteworthy, it means that numbers rose to 400,000 crashes in 2015 that led to 4,000 fatalities and 116,000 nonfatal injuries.

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