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Voluntary Departure Sounds Like Mercy. Asked For Alone, It Is Usually a Surrender
A man is arrested after a traffic stop in East Baton Rouge Parish. Within a week he is in a detention center in central Louisiana, appearing by video before an immigration judge, with no attorney. The judge asks whether he wants to fight his case or take voluntary departure. Someone in his housing unit already…
There Is a Warrant Out for You in East Baton Rouge Parish. Now What?
Most people find out the same way. A traffic stop on Airline that should have taken ten minutes turns into handcuffs. A background check for a new job comes back with something on it. A family member calls and says a deputy came by the house asking questions. By then the choice has already been…
Immigration Habeas Corpus in the Fifth Circuit: What Families in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas Need to Know
If someone you love has been picked up by ICE and taken to Jena, Winnfield, Basile, Natchez or one of the detention centers in South Texas, you have probably already heard the words “no bond.” You may have been told there is nothing to be done until the immigration judge rules, and that the wait…
How Bond Works in East Baton Rouge Parish
Bond is not a punishment and it is not a fine. It is security that you will appear. Louisiana courts consider a set of factors when setting the amount, including the seriousness of the offense, the weight of the evidence, prior criminal history, ties to the community, employment, and the risk of flight. In practice,…
