Representing immigrants when they’re charged with crimes is a very, very delicate matter, and also it’s a very unique specialty. The first book I wrote in large sections deals with that issue. If you are an alien in the United States, a person who is not a citizen, and it doesn’t matter if you have legal residency, a legal permanent resident or not, if you are convicted of certain crimes you will be deported. So the goal is to when you represent people try to look for a resolution of the case that protects them from the immigration consequences of a criminal conviction. And that can be very difficult and you need a lot of specialized knowledge, which I have, on how to do that. Most of the people in Arizona – I have taught this issue with other criminal defense attorneys because my book was the first one out on the issue almost 20 years ago on dealing with people who are not citizens of the United States who are still charged with crimes.

Ultimately sometimes those people need to go to trial because they have no alternative other than to go to trial if the prosecutor is not willing to look for another resolution that will protect their immigration status, and that’s because deportation may result in life, liberty, or all that makes life worth living. And the criminal conviction could be something minor, but you’ve got to always learn and protect your client from that. And I have a particular specialty in that issue.