Thread: Powerful Bay Area Lawyers Represent Immigrants For Free

Powerful Bay Area Lawyers Represent Immigrants For Free
60 Attorneys From Bay Area Firms Criticize ICE Raids
John Boitnott, Web Producer

POSTED: 3:51 pm PST December 3, 2007
UPDATED: 8:26 pm PST December 3, 2007


SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Dozens of attorneys from some of the nation's most powerful law firms have united to create a task force that will come to the aid of undocumented immigrants, NBC11's Damian Trujillo reported Monday.

The 60 attorneys from 14 law firms have said they will face the government head-on -- challenging the legality of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids.


60 Attorneys From Bay Area Firms Offer Free Help

The list of law firms includes Dechert LLP, Wilson Sonsini, Skadden-Arps and Orrick, Herrington & Suttcliffe, according to Trujillo.

The firms count Yahoo, Hewlett -Packard, Sun Microsystems and many other Fortune 500 companies among their clients.

The legal plan called for the lawyers to vigorously defend the constitutional rights of all people, including undocumented immigrants, Trujillo said.

Andrew Thomases said Dechert LLP, which represents Yahoo, and the other law firms would represent undocumented immigrants for free.

"We do have the resources to help all our clients," Thomases said. "All individuals have constitutional rights, and we want to make sure the rights are not violated, and the government is not violating the Fourth or Fifth Amendment when doing searches and seizures."

Eight lawyers from the international firm are on the list of high-powered attorneys who will go to court against ICE, Thomases said.

Thomases said lawyers would specifically tackle violations such as entering an apartment without a warrant or pushing an immigrant to answer questions when he refuses to talk.

ICE officials did not respond on camera to the story, Trujillo said.

A spokesperson did tell the reporter that "agents follow the law on all arrests."

In a statement ICE said:

"As a country, we welcome law-abiding immigrants, but those who violate our laws and commit crimes against our citizens should understand that ICE is going to use all of its tools to find you and send you home."

Mark Silverman is with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center in San Francisco, which is working with the attorneys involved in the task force.

"We are not trying to make ICE's job difficult," Silverman said. "We just want ICE to do their job by conforming to the U.S. Constitution."

http://www.nbc11.com/news/14764402/deta ... y&psp=news

another aclu in the making

"We are not trying to make ICE's job difficult," Silverman said. "We just want ICE to do their job by conforming to the U.S. Constitution."

Well these lib-lawyers have already failed the Constitution, now what?

It will serve them right if they will spend a majority of their time representing alot of illegals for free, cutting into their billable hours

LA VOZ DE AZTLAN
Los Angeles, Alta California
December 5, 2007

Powerful Law Firms to Represent Immigrants For Free
by
Damian Trujillo
NBC News

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Dozens of attorneys from some of the nation's most powerful law firms have united to create a task force that will come to the aid of undocumented immigrants.

The 60 attorneys from 14 law firms have said they will face the government head-on -- challenging the legality of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. The lawers said they will represent immigrants for free

The list of law firms includes Dechert LLP, Wilson Sonsini, Skadden-Arps and Orrick, Herrington & Suttcliffe.

The firms count Yahoo, Hewlett -Packard, Sun Microsystems and many other Fortune 500 companies among their clients.

The legal plan called for the lawyers to vigorously defend the constitutional rights of all people, including undocumented immigrants.

Andrew Thomases said Dechert LLP, which represents Yahoo, and the other law firms would represent undocumented immigrants for free.

"We do have the resources to help all our clients," Thomases said. "All individuals have constitutional rights, and we want to make sure the rights are not violated, and the government is not violating the Fourth or Fifth Amendment when doing searches and seizures."

Eight lawyers from the international firm are on the list of high-powered attorneys who will go to court against ICE, Thomases said.

Thomases said lawyers would specifically tackle violations such as entering an apartment without a warrant or pushing an immigrant to answer questions when he refuses to talk.

ICE officials did not respond to the story.

The firms count Yahoo, Hewlett -Packard, Sun Microsystems and many other Fortune 500 companies among their clients.

Surprise, surprise....NOT!

greyparrot

I was just going to say they aren't doing this for free - they are being well paid.

Oh I don't think this is for free, how much do you want to bet this is paid for by big corporate America, Its all about cheap labor.

I don't give a damn, by federal law it is illegal for these people to enter this country illegaly, that is what should matter and nothing else. This is just more aiding and abetting and I suppose they feel like their license gives them the ok!!