Q&A: What Advice Is An Immigration Attorney Giving Nowadays?

In her 22 years as a licensed attorney, Liliana Gallelli has helped thousands of immigrants navigate green card applications, work visas and deportation defense across the United States and overseas. Licensed in California since 2004, she now acts as a founding partner at Kerosky & Gallelli Immigration Law, which operates 10 different offices throughout Northern California and in Reno.

A member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Gallelli is also active in community legal aid efforts that support immigrants in Northern California. As a bilingual attorney in the heart of an area with high immigrant populations, she recognizes the need for transparency and a better public understanding of immigration law. She encourages clients to understand their rights and stay informed amid changing immigration policies.

Noticiero Móvil: What made you decide to do immigration law?

Liliana Gallelli: My brother was an immigration attorney and he had his own firm in Los Angeles. I actually went into estate planning first, but I always was interested in immigration law because I was interested in civil-type proceedings, administrative proceedings and procedure. I always liked the procedure and I love immigrants. I’m a child of immigrants. So it’s just fun to learn about different countries, learn different cultures and deal with immigrants every day. I really enjoy the legal aspect and the human aspect. I was drawn to it, even before becoming a lawyer.

Noticiero Móvil: You’ve practice immigration law for almost 20 years. Can you tell me about how immigration law has changed in the time you’ve been working in the field?

Gallelli: I think the biggest change with the current administration is a departure from prosecutorial discretion. Enforcement practices and policies were always driven by discretion, which means that enforcement priorities are established by the crime, the seriousness of the crimes, and go down in discretion from there.

If a person has no crimes, has been here a long time, has a stable family and strong ties to the United States, then the government may choose to not enforce immigration laws against those people. They’re hardworking people with families and lives established here for many years. That has been the most significant and negative departure from prior practices. Anyone is subject to immigration enforcement no matter how strongly the person is contributing to our society and how many ties in the family that they have in the United States.

Noticiero Móvil: As immigration law has moved away from discretion, how has your practice of immigration law interacted with federal mandates and expectations?

Gallelli: It’s a little bit of a moving target. Every morning we have faced challenges because there are all of these policy changes that can be implemented suddenly — we’re talking in a matter of a day. It’s so difficult to strategize and have a firm strategy. Every day we need to change it. I really am grateful for my experience that I have and a lot of immigration is trial and error because of these policies.

For example, you’ll have a law, you’ll have a regulation interpreting that law, and then you have policies that are in the form of memos from the chief of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that then further interprets the laws and dictates how it’s going to be put into practice. So those policies change according to the politics. It’s just very frustrating to say the least, but you really need to have all of this experience of trial and error and then try to make an educated guess on how things are going to play out and how to move forward in the way where you minimize risk and you optimize protection to people that are, especially in this administration, taking a lot of risks by coming forward.

But I think if you have good attorneys, I think the risk is outweighed by the potential immigration protections that you’ll receive if you’re successful in your applications.

Noticiero Móvil: You shared that you’ve had more than 7,000 immigration clients. How have their concerns changed under current administrative conditions?

Gallelli: There’s a lot of fear. People are looking at going away from this country and that is very heartbreaking. I am there mostly to encourage them to not live in fear and people like me – attorneys – are really out here advocating for clients to have hope and know that they are people that really care to help them.

The fear a lot of times is misconstrued: just because you’re here undocumented, that you’re going to be deported right away. One thing is detention, another thing is deportation. A lot of people can be detained, but they can quickly be released on bond and then fight the case for years. Being detained, coming into contact with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – I know the worst feeling or idea is being detained – but it’s not the end of the road and it does not mean you’re going to stay deported. You can very quickly be reunited at home with your family and then someone like me can talk about all the defenses that are possible. We’ve defended thousands of clients successfully, so we could do it for all the people that need us in the future.

Noticiero Móvil: What misconceptions have you been able to myth bust when it comes to immigration enforcement?

Gallelli: There’s a different set of protections that exist in a home, which is under the Fourth Amendment, as opposed to when you’re in public.

In public, the right to make sure that the officers are safe, is higher than your right to privacy. So that’s why under our laws you do have to provide identification if you’re given the privilege of driving and you do have to identify yourself if the officers think that there is a probable cause of illegal activity afoot. I mean, “What is the probable cause?” Is it just because you’re brown and look Hispanic and that’s the probable cause? That is a blurry line for sure when an officer just stops you because you’re walking. It’s different if you’re driving, they can always come up with some reasonable suspicion or probable cause to stop you that is hard to contest. Of course, when you’re driving, you have to provide identification. It’s a little bit hard to say, but as a general rule, I would say understand those two differences.

They do need a warrant when you’re in your home and it has to be a judicial warrant, not the ICE warrant. You do have time to talk to a lawyer to make sure it’s the right one. If not, don’t open the door and remain silent. Now, another thing that is going around a lot is to remain silent, but if you’re a legal permanent resident, obviously you should advocate yourself and say, “I’m a legal permanent resident here with my green card.”

Noticiero Móvil: While coming into contact with ICE or Border Patrol might not be the end of the road for many, in the case that someone is detained or is under threat, what should they do?

Gallelli: The first thing that they should do is come and see me, because immigration really is case by case, and everybody’s case is different. Do not base your case off of somebody else’s case.

I get a lot of [statements from folks who heard from others] “hey, you have a domestic violence [charge], you’re never going to get papers. Don’t even try.” And I’m always shocked when people come in and say, “Oh, I did this crime 20 years ago. They told me I’m never going to be able to get papers so I never did it.” 

You can get papers. I’m so sad that you wasted all these 20 years. So it’s very important that they have a case. Everything’s confidential. An attorney can never judge. It’s all information analyzing the facts with that consultation. I’m just a phone call away and you don’t have to start from the beginning and tell me everything; it takes a long time to get the info. But if you’ve had that consultation, I’ve got everything I need in one place.

Noticiero Móvil: What do you think is the biggest risk for Reno immigrants at the moment?

Gallelli: Specifically, in Reno, I see a lot of people that are falling for scams by people that present a way to a path to citizenship and it’s a total falsity. It takes money and a lot of hope and it’s just this form of scam when you’re just playing on someone’s hope and it just illustrates how people are willing to jump through hoops, pay whatever money it is because they want to have status and they want to do things right.

The truth is that oftentimes, there’s no path to citizenship. I see a lot of victims of, they call it “notary fraud,” or people that hold themselves out to be professionals but they’re not licensed. They’re not allowed to give advice and they get themselves into even more trouble because they’re asking for benefits that they don’t qualify for. Currently there’s a lot of issues with people who apply and if you get a denial, you could be put into deportation proceedings.

Noticiero Móvil: Does “notary fraud” have any obvious signs? How can Reno immigrants worried about their status and acquiring legal aid make sure they’re going through proper channels?

Gallelli: The first thing they have to ask is if the person is an attorney. As attorneys, we have a full ethical responsibility to the client. We have to have a valid license.

Then you want to ask what state they are licensed in, because we are federal attorneys when we’re practicing immigration law. You can be a Louisiana attorney working in Nevada and it’s really hard to find a license. If you don’t know the state you have to go state by state. So those are good questions. “What state are you licensed in?” and “are you a licensed attorney?” If you have the name you can look up the license number. Attorneys have to, by law, give a copy of a file and have a contract, so it’s very controlled. 

Noticiero Móvil: How should immigrants seek legal help if they’re not sure where to start?

Gallelli: Just having an attorney is a big protection to the client. If your attorney does something that is unethical, then you have a way of making a complaint, but not for people that are not. So that’s a big tip. Then there are people who aid in filling out papers and things like that. That’s helpful, too, if you don’t speak English and they’re going to help you; however don’t just accept legal advice from those people. Oftentimes those answers are legally charged. It may look like a little box that you have to check, but that box … one wrong box can cost the entire case.

Noticiero Móvil: What documents should Northern Nevada immigrants have ready in the case that they are detained or need help?

Gallelli: A lot of people that have been here for more than 10 years can qualify for something that’s called “cancellation of removal,” and that allows you to not only fight the deportation, but also get your green card. So I would love to have that information ready to go to show the judge. “Please let this person out on bond. They have a great case, they’ve hired me. They qualify for a green card and here’s the proof. Look, they have 10 years of taxes, they have U.S. citizen kids, they have a stable job.”

The documents [you’ll need are]: your taxes, the birth certificates of your children, the green cards of family members that are close like parents, spouses and brothers and sisters and any letters showing that you’re a good stable employee and contributing effort to your community.

Noticiero Móvil: What practical hurdles are you seeing with your clients in trying to acquire these documents or is this something that has become more difficult under the current administration in terms of accessing green cards or work/family visas?

Gallelli: It’s hard to get certain benefits and especially the one that I just mentioned. You have to establish that you’ve been here for 10 years. Taxes are a start, but it’s not the entire thing. I can’t imagine somebody asking me for 10 years of documents to prove I was here every day of every year in the last 10 years. That’s a huge burden. Unfortunately, it is what it is. Do not throw away proof of physical presence and proof of taxes of having paid taxes.

Another hurdle is a law that is not only for immigration, but for everybody. It’s called the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Basically [it] says that any person in the United States can ask for a copy of any information that the government has on them. That is a huge tool when somebody has immigration history that they’re not clear on and we can ask for it. So, one hurdle is that it’s super backlogged and it takes about a year to get information. That is very difficult if we need the information now. But sometimes it does have a positive impact if you’ve had a case going in the past.

Lately, under this administration, we’ve been seeing improper rejections to provide information. We get over-redactions on things or just a complete failure to provide them. They’ll say, “We didn’t find the file.” Well, we know there is one.

Noticiero Móvil: What advice do you have for those who may be documented immigrants who may be concerned about the way enforcement is carried out or about their status?

Gallelli: I get a lot of consultations from people that have nothing to worry about, but they are just scared from the news, which is understandable. It’s nice to talk about it and then I can go through my questions and say, is there really something you need to be concerned about? I’m very happy when I tell them, “You’re fine, do not worry, apply for citizenship.”

On the other hand, there are a lot of people that got their green card and their citizenship, and they know that something was not quite done right. Maybe they failed to disclose a crime, maybe they failed to disclose some history. That is very dangerous. I would tell them to come and see me and we can talk about it, and then I can ask, “is this a problem? Is there something we can do or should you just let things lie as they are?”

Noticiero Móvil: What if someone doesn’t have their immigration files or information? If FOIA is backlogged and sometimes unfruitful, what can people do and when should they start?

Gallelli: I would say, generally, get started now. Ask for the FOIA and that way, if and when something happens, at least it’s already processed and maybe we’ll have it in time. If you don’t have any paperwork, get together with your mom and your dad, your family and try to reconstruct a timeline. When did you come in? When did you go back? Were you detained? What name did you use? Just jotting it down and having a clearer approximation of what your past was and what your parents’ immigration past was. Even grandparents’ immigration past is sometimes a key to finding a path to legal status.

Mackenzie Rankin, a senior Spanish and Journalism dual major at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) reported this article and recorded this video for Noticiero Móvil.