Posted on August 24, 2018 in Immigration

With the events occurring at the United States’ southern border, the status of young immigrants has been a hot button issue for everyone. While most of the problems in Texas and Arizona center around children who arrived in the U.S. with their parents, however, there are other categories under which a child may seek asylum or other lawful status in the country. One of the most common is as a Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ), which is, as are so many other types, under attack.

The Basics

A person under age 21 can apply for Special Immigrant Juvenile status upon arrival in the United States if he or she can show that his or her protection of a juvenile court is required — usually because he or she has been abandoned or abused (or neglected, which is considered a form of abuse) by a parent — and all the criteria is met. If SIJ status is granted, it will often lead to a grant of lawful permanent residency (in other words, a green card).

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 Posted on August 24, 2018 in Family Law

Unfortunately, substance abuse is a common issue in Illinois. When one spouse is abusing alcohol or drugs, life for the other spouse can become very difficult. Oftentimes, substance abuse in a marriage leads to divorce. If you are divorcing a spouse with substance abuse problems, you may be wondering how it will affect your divorce. Read on to find out.

Child Custody

When determining child custody, a judge’s main goal will be to keep your child’s best interests in mind when designing an arrangement. If a parent abuses alcohol or drugs, they are unlikely able to provide their child with the high-quality care they deserve. In fact, they may endanger their child if their substance abuse case is severe.

It is important to keep in mind that although the judge may deny custody to a parent with a history of substance abuse, the parent may complete rehab or participate in substance abuse support groups so that they can request a child custody modification when they are more fit to care for their child.

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 Posted on August 23, 2018 in Personal Injury

Whether you are driving in DuPage County or in downtown Chicago, you may have noticed speed cameras or red light cameras designed to prevent aggressive driving accidents. One of the aims behind traffic photo enforcement systems, according to the DuPage County Community Resource Information System, is to prevent car accidents caused by aggressive drivers. Two of the most common forms of aggressive driving include speeding and running red lights. These behaviors routinely result in serious and fatal auto accidents.

Still, do speed and red light cameras actually act as a deterrent for aggressive drivers? According to a PubMed Health article, research suggests that speed and red light cameras do reduce the number of traffic crashes and personal injuries, and as such they are a worthwhile intervention.

Speeding and Running Red Lights Are Behaviors That Cause Car Crashes in DuPage County

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 Posted on August 17, 2018 in Family Law

If you are considering divorce or in the process of filing for it, you likely have many questions and concerns. Since divorce can be complicated and the decisions you make during it can affect your family life and future for years to come, it is important to avoid some of the most common divorce mistakes. These mistakes include:

1. Being Untruthful About Your Financial Status

In addition to separating from your spouse, a divorce will separate your finances. Therefore, it is essential for courts to have accurate financial information from both you and your spouse. This way, appropriate decisions regarding property division, spousal maintenance, and child support can be made.

If you purposely reduce your income, do not report a large asset, or lie about your financial status in any way, you may face serious consequences. To ensure a smooth and efficient divorce, you and your spouse must be honest when revealing your assets and debts.

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 Posted on August 17, 2018 in Immigration

In this day and age, it can feel as though an immigrant, in particular an undocumented immigrant, has no rights at all in the United States. This is simply not true — and many times, those who may seek to infringe upon rights count on immigrants not being aware of them. If you are in the country without inspection, knowing what you can and cannot do can make a difference in how quickly you can respond to a serious situation.

Education and Public Benefits

Children in the United States are entitled to a free public education up to grade 12, regardless of their immigration status, as confirmed in the Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe (1982). This means that schools cannot restrict any child from attending primary or secondary school as long as they are under age 21 — this extends to requiring immigration information from parents, as well. In other words, a school district may not require any kind of identifying information that marks someone as a citizen or non-citizen, because to do so might have the effect of undocumented children being kept out of school.

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 Posted on August 17, 2018 in Personal Injury

When motor vehicles collide with bicyclists, the results often are deadly. Given that automobiles are much larger and heavier than bicycles, a traffic crash can result in the total devastation of a bicycle, and cyclists can sustain life-threatening and fatal injuries. As residents of Lombard may know, there is no federal bicycle helmet law, and there is no helmet law in Illinois or in DuPage County more specifically. Only bike messengers in Chicago are required to wear helmets, and then only a handful of counties across the state require children to wear helmets. This means that adults throughout DuPage County and Cook County can ride a bicycle legally without a helmet.

Even though bicycle helmets are not required by law, they can save lives in the event of a collision with an automobile. According to a recent article in Science Nordic, a new study suggests that bicyclists decrease their risk of head injuries by 60 percent when they use helmets, but experts wrangle on the question of making them mandatory by law.

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 Posted on August 10, 2018 in Family Law

A child custody hearing is one of the most crucial aspects of a divorce. If you are facing a child custody hearing, it is important to prepare properly so that you can increase your chances of securing a favorable outcome for you and your child. These five tips can help you prepare for a child custody hearing and protect your rights.

1. Collect and Organize Documents

There are a number of documents that are typically presented at a child custody hearing. Take the time to gather any documents like phone logs and report cards that support your position regarding child custody. Once you have gathered them, organize the documentation in a logical order that you can easily present it to the judge during the hearing.

2. Compile a Witness List

It is important to compile a list of dependable witnesses that you trust. Your list may include individuals such as your child’s teacher, coach, or anyone else that knows your child on a personal level. Your list should also include the contact information of each witness.

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 Posted on August 09, 2018 in Immigration

While most immigrants who arrive in the United States seek to work in others’ businesses, there are a small amount who seek to start businesses of their own, and to employ others. The previous administration had sought to institute a rule called the International Entrepreneur Rule (IER) which would permit certain potential immigrants to be paroled into the U.S. if they met certain criteria. However, as of May 25, 2018, this rule is slated to be rescinded if no sufficient challenge is mounted. Immigrants who plan to start businesses in the U.S., or who work for an immigrant-owned business, should be aware of this because it may affect their employment status, or even their immigration status.

Rule Created Jobs

At the time of its issuance, the IER was hailed as a positive development because of its potential to create jobs for U.S. citizens and immigrants alike. If a potential immigrant was able to show that he or she (1) possessed a “substantial interest” in a startup created in the U.S. in the past 5 years and were in a position to help that company grow; and (2) that he or she and the company could provide a “significant public benefit” to the country via domestic and foreign investment and job creation (or otherwise merited an exercise of discretion), then he or she would be paroled into the country for a specific period of time. The presence of these well-placed people was a general net positive for many companies.

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 Posted on August 08, 2018 in Personal Injury

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains that older adults are often at greater risk of being involved in a car accident than younger drivers. At the same time, there are more than 40 million adults aged 65 and older, and they rely on their ability to drive in order to remain independent. Yet, the CDC emphasizes that the risk of being hurt or killed in an accident increases with age.

One of the reasons why aging increases a person’s accident risk is diminishing eyesight. According to a recent article in Reuters, older drivers who have elective cataract surgery may decrease their chances of getting into traffic accidents.

New Study Shows Cataract Patients Who Have Surgery May Lower Their Auto Accident Risk

The Reuters article discusses a recent study reported in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology. According to the study, compared to their chances of an accident prior to surgery, drivers who had cataracts were 9 percent less likely to be involved in crashes afterwards. In order for elective cataracts surgery to be effective in reducing the rate of auto accidents, the authors of the study predict that more than 4,500 patients would need to receive the surgery each year in order to prevent a collision.

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 Posted on August 04, 2018 in Immigration

As if the news of the United States government’s losing track of 1,475 unaccompanied minor children ostensibly placed with sponsors was not cause enough for concern, a recent proposal from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seeks to further modify the latitude that the federal government is able to exercise over the treatment of child detainees. While still a working draft, the proposal is replete with potential modifications that would allow leeway for legitimized abuses of power that would appear to serve no purpose other than the exercise of that power. It is imperative that parents be aware of the proposed changes, so that they may be better prepared to work against them if it is ever required in their situation.

Transfers and Detentions

Perhaps the most immediate threat is that the proposal seeks to modify transfer regulations and to alter the rules surrounding separating families in detention. As of this writing, a document called the Flores Settlement Agreement serves as a federal consent decree governing the treatment and transfer of people in federal immigration custody, and limits the detention of children in immigration jails, instead requiring their transfer to a family residence facility within 5 days. The current administration would seek to relax that period, potentially opening the door to confining children of all ages in detention facilities, without access to important necessities.

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