What Should a Legal Permanent Resident Do After Being Charged with a Crime?

What steps should a Legal Permanent Resident take after getting arrested?

  • Immediately inform your defense attorney that you are not a U.S. citizen

  • Try to find a defense attorney familiar with the immigration ramifications of being convicted of a crime

  • If financially feasible, hire an immigration attorney to assist defense counsel in obtaining an outcome in the criminal case that will preserve your current and future immigration plans

  • If a plea deal is to be negotiated, the prosecutor should be informed of your legal status, as well as the immigration consequences you are seeking to avoid

  • If your case goes to trial before a judge or jury, the judge should be made aware of your legal status and attendant immigration consequences

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Ina Silvergleid
Has the Road to Clemency Reached a Dead End? Illinois’ Clemency Report Card for 2024

The last time I wrote about clemency was in June of 2024. At that time, I anticipated 2024 was not going to be a “banner year” for clemency rulings due to the impending presidential election. I take no pleasure in being able to say, “I told you so.”

In actuality, I would have rather been told that each of my (three) clients -- whose pardon petitions have been pending since 2021 and 2022 – were granted clemency. But that did not happen for any of my client or, for that matter, the other 2,100+ individuals waiting for Gov. J.B. Pritzker to rule on their petition.

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Ina Silvergleid
Presidential Pardons Should Not Be Handed Out Like Cheap Party Favors

When I think of all the people who have dutifully followed the rules to obtain a presidential pardon or sentence commutation, it is stomach turning to see people receiving such relief without ever having applied for it.

Since when did it become acceptable to grant pardons to those yet to be charged with a crime? Who knew that there was such a thing as a preemptive pardon? Doling out pardons for family members? I can’t help but shake my head in disbelief.

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Ina Silvergleid
Denied an IL FOID Card Due to a Criminal Offense? Make Sure to Utilize the Proper Appeals Process

Back in 2020, I questioned why the Illinois State Police (“ISP”) was providing flawed appeal guidance to individuals denied a FOID card due to a felony conviction. At that time, Illinois law no longer gave those with a felony conviction a right to go into court and ask a judge to order the ISP to issue them a FOID card. It wasn’t until 2021 that a convicted felon could once again ask a judge for such relief.

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Ina Silvergleid
As a Convicted Felon, Can I Vote in November?

Can someone convicted of a felony vote in the upcoming presidential election?

  • Most states bar a convicted felon from voting while s/he serves time in prison

  • Only three jurisdictions, D.C., Maine, and Vermont, do not disenfranchise citizens convicted of a felony

  • A majority of state automatically restore voting rights to individuals once released from prison or after completing all their sentence terms (e.g., parole, probation, payment of fees/restitution)

  • Voting rights are not automatically restored in six states; individuals in these states must satisfy additional conditions before their rights are restored

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Ina Silvergleid