by Jim Browne | Aug 11, 2015 | Current Events, Immigration, Legal Matters Discussed
Indiana’s Hispanic population around Fort Wayne and Elkhart continues growing. Information describing the population growth is shown. Many of these Spanish speaking residents face immigration and general legal issues. The Goodin Abernathy LLP attorneys are experienced and take pride helping their Latino clients.
The attorneys at Goodin Abernathy LLP frequently visit the Fort Wayne and Elkhart, IN areas to meet with Latino clients. Our experience shows many Hispanic clients qualify for immigration services including visas, work permits, residency and citizenship. Since Immigration law is federal, we are also able to help clients living nearby in Illinois and Michigan and Ohio. Our Spanish speaking attorneys consult with clients by telephone and in meeting with them in person to evaluate their best immigration options.
Frequently our clients throughout Fort Wayne, Auburn and Elkhart qualify for DACA, U Visas, TPS, naturalization, legal permanent residency and deportation protection. Many of these clients have had contact with the police and law enforcement agencies and need their criminal court history. But the Fort Wayne police and Sheriff’s department make it difficult for non-citizens to obtain their records. We regularly send requests and work to collect the reports our clients need. Our attorneys explain the fingerprinting process and prepare clients for their immigration interviews. We translate documents and walk our clients through the process, start to finish.
The Spanish speaking attorneys at Goodin Abernathy LLP provide individual and focused attention to their immigration clients. Visit our Spanish web site at https://www.legalmentehablandoindy.com.
Use our mobile phone site to immediately connect and speak with one of our attorneys.
Attorneys Browne is connected to the Hispanic community by family, friends and their community work. Attorney Browne’s mother is Mexican and Mahern’s husband is Mexican. They speak Spanish and care about their clients. Our Legalmente Hablando Indy attorneys provide clear explanations and arrange affordable payment programs. If you do not currently qualify for an immigration opportunity, they will tell you – but they will also tell you how to plan your future and what to look for as the immigration laws change.
by Jim Browne | Aug 7, 2015 | Employment Law, Immigration, Legal Matters Discussed, Worker's Comp
Labor statistics show an increasing number of Hispanic workers are suffering work fatalities and injuries. In Indiana, Bureau of Labor Statistics show a rising trend in Latino work fatalities.
“Hispanic and Latino Workers – Occupational Injuries, Illnesses and Fatalities” – www.in.gov brochure.
Most of Indiana’s Hispanic fatalities and injuries occur in the manufacturing and construction industries. Many Hispanic accidents affecting Hispanics involve motor vehicles and equipment. In construction projects, many Latinos are injured from fall accidents. Another significant cause of injuries to Latinos involves workplace violence.
The attorneys at Legalmente Hablando Indy and Goodin Abernathy LLP regularly represent injured Hispanic workers. We are located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Many of our clients live and work around Fort Wayne, Lafayette, Bloomington, Frankfort, Auburn, Crawfordsville and Richmond. We will travel to visit clients and appear in local courtrooms.
We handle construction accidents, motor vehicle collisions, factory injuries, explosions and burns. Often we give legal advice to Hispanics about work place harassment and violence. Many of our clients are concerned about racial discrimination and immigration issues. Our experience and research address these issues showing why injured Indiana Latinos have legal rights regardless of immigration status. We speak Spanish and fight for our Hispanic clients in Indiana worker’s compensation claims and injury cases.
Hispanics work on risky and dangerous jobs.
“Immigrants Work in Riskier and More Dangerous Jobs in the United States” – PRB.org.
Employers often turn their backs on injured Latino workers because they do not respect their immigration status. The Legalmente Hablando Indy and Goodin Abernathy LLP Indianapolis attorneys open legal claims for both documented and undocumented immigrants. We explain the medical treatment options Indiana workers are owed when injured on the job. Most importantly, we care about our Hispanic clients and work to win the best recoveries the law allows.
Find more information about our Legalmente Hablando Indy at http://www.legalmentehablandoindy.com/ and check out our community involvement on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LegalmenteHablandoIndy.
by Jim Browne | Mar 9, 2015 | Legal Matters Discussed, Personal Injury, Safety, Spinal Cord Injury, Traumatic Brain Injury
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 200,000 children go to emergency rooms each year in the United States due to injuries associated with the child’s playground equipment. Most of the injuries are due to falling and can result in traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, or other broken bones.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has provided the following Safety Checklist for parents to use to help make sure their children are safe.
1. Make sure surfaces around playground equipment have at least 12 inches of wood chips, mulch, sand, or pea gravel, or are mats made of safety-tested rubber or rubber-like materials.
2. Check that protective surfacing extends at least 6 feet in all directions from play equipment. For swings, be sure surfacing extends, in back and front, twice the height of the suspending bar.
3. Make sure play structures more than 30 inches high are spaced at least 9 feet apart.
4. Check for dangerous hardware, like open “S” hooks or protruding bolt ends.
5. Make sure spaces that could trap children, such as openings in guardrails or between ladder rungs, measure less than 3.5 inches or more than 9 inches.
6. Check for sharp points or edges in equipment.
7. Look out for tripping hazards, like exposed concrete footings, tree stumps, and rocks.
8. Make sure elevated surfaces, like platforms and ramps, have guardrails to prevent falls.
9. Check playgrounds regularly to see that equipment and surfacing are in good condition.
10. Carefully supervise children on playgrounds to make sure they’re safe.
If you see any of these issues at a local park or your child’s school, these conditions should be reported to the appropriate authority so the hazardous condition may be corrected.
If your child has been injured on a playground due to one of these conditions or other conditions, contact Goodin Abernathy, LLP to discuss your options.
Image courtesy of Feelart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
by Jim Browne | Jan 9, 2015 | Immigration, Legal Matters Discussed
Thousands of migrants die each year crossing the U.S. border – sometimes even before reaching it. The deserts, seas and criminal activity cause most of the deaths, leaving family and friends on each side of the border grieving their loved ones. [Read more here from the NY Times.]
Frequently Latinos pay “Coyotes,” rather than an Immigration Attorney, thousands of dollars for the dangerous trips, risking life and legal penalties for undocumented crossings. The Coyotes don’t guarantee the trips, so if they fail, the migrant must pay the Coyote thousands of dollars to try again.
But there may be better ways to cross the border. Safer and more cost-efficient ways, recognized by U.S. immigration laws. Goodin Abernathy LLP provides cost effective immigration services. Contact us for a free telephone or in person immigration consultation – in Spanish or English.
Goodin Abernathy regularly handles I-130 applications where U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents may sponsor relatives for family immigrant visas. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services I-130 petition process permits documented U.S. immigrants to request lawful immigration for their loved ones – avoiding the risks posed by Coyotes or undocumented crossing.
Goodin Abernathy also helps immigrants with the U-visa. Individuals who previously lived in the United States and were victims of certain crimes and helped in the investigation of those crimes may qualify for the U-visa although they no longer live in the United States. Applying for the U-visa while abroad allows the crime-victim to re-enter the United States with legal status which can lead to legal permanent residency and eventually citizenship.
Many undocumented immigrants face Human Trafficking problems where, as part of the assistance offered for illegal entry, they are then bound to ongoing work or criminal activity. The U.S. government recognizes severe forms of Human Trafficking as: 1- sex trafficking where commercial sex acts are induced by force, fraud or coercion, or where a people under that age of 18 are forced to perform sex acts; 2 – the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or obtaining a person for labor services through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjecting humans to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery.
Goodin Abernathy’s immigration attorneys carefully review opportunities of all sorts – working to identify the best, safest and most cost efficient plan for opening the doors to a future living in the U.S. Call and speak directly with attorney Jim Browne with your immigration questions!
by Jim Browne | Nov 20, 2014 | Immigration, Legal Matters Discussed, Personal Injury
There are many (including me!) who are excited for the announcement by President Obama tonight about executive action on immigration. Although several news networks are reporting more details, nothing is official yet. The best way to know the details of the program is to see the announcement at 8:00 pm when they will transmit on several TV stations and online. While we await the announcement many want to know what they can do to prepare.
We have prepared a list of 5 things you SHOULD do and 5 things NOT to do to prepare:
YOU SHOULD:
1) Stay informed by reliable news networks and watch the president’s announcement tonight at 8:00 pm.
2) Begin to collect and organize your personal documents-if you think that maybe you will be able to benefit under the program announced by the President, you should take steps to secure your important documents.
Examples of important documents are records of school, work and tax records, medical records, rental agreement, mortgage, copies of bills for gas, electricity, water, telephone. Save any document that has your name, date, and shows your presence here–mail that has come over the years, information from purchase or money transfers, or other personal records.
3) Start saving money-we do not know what would be the fee with immigration services to apply for benefits-but we know that there will be a cost. Start saving money to be prepared!
4) Obtain identification-if you do not have a photo ID– such as a passport from your country of origin or a consular identification (e.g. a Matricula for Mexicans) you must take steps to obtain one. Based on experience not having a photo ID can delay any immigration process.
5) Start to organize information in your own mind–making a list of important dates (like when you arrived, when you left the country, dates you’ve had contact with immigration, etc.) and a list of addresses where you have lived. We do not know exactly what they will ask in the application for experience often these questions are the hardest to answer for clients. If you think you will need to talk to friends or family to get this information can begin to gather this information.
DO NOT:
1) Put your trust anyone who says that has contact with immigration officials and can begin the process now. Nobody knows exactly what the president will say tonight, and after tonight we will not yet have the details of how and when you can apply. Do not pay anyone before the program details are clear.
2) Arrange anything with anyone who is a “notary” and not an attorney or agent approved by immigration. We have seen many sad cases where the work of someone who does not know all the risks takes steps that result in bad consequences for the client that are difficult to fix.
3) Put yourself in situations that could result in arrest. Through reports and experience we know that you will see requirements connected with your criminal record. Try not to jeopardize that if you can help!
4) Lying or providing false documents to immigration or your lawyer-that can cause more problems than it solves. Please openly discuss with your lawyer about any criminal or immigration problem that you had BEFORE starting any process with immigration because this information is important to resolve your situation.
5) Do NOT hesitate to contact us with your questions! We are forever grateful to serve the Hispanic community. Call us at 317-574-3090.
