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Update Regarding COVID-19

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Update Regarding COVID-19

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Update Regarding COVID-19

As we continue to monitor developments with the Coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic, our most important concern is the health and safety of our employees, current clients, and prospective clients. As such, we are taking the following actions to minimize contact between our employees and current and prospective clients to reduce the risk of exposure to the Coronavirus and COVID-19.

• We are temporarily suspending all in-person appointments and consults at our offices, including Saturday consultations, until further notice. If you already have an appointment scheduled, please contact us. All current or prospective clients who have been scheduled for in-person consultations or appointments will conduct their appointments by telephone. All consultations for prospective clients will be charged the standard in-person rate of $90 per consultation for an appointment Monday through Friday and $110 per consultation on a Saturday. If you wish to schedule a consultation for a new case with us, please call our office number, and one of our receptionists will be happy to assist you. 

• We will continue to work on open cases with our full staff working remotely and a limited staff physically present in the office.  You may still send in documents via email or standard mail, and we will get those documents to the correct paralegal/attorney handling your case. If you need to know the email address of where to send the documents, don’t hesitate to contact the office during regular business hours to obtain that information.

• If you have an open case and wish to make a payment, you can do that easily over the phone by calling 312-782-1804 during regular business hours (M-F from 9am-5pm and Saturday from 9-12pm). If you do come to the office and need to leave documents, you will be able to leave those documents in our mail slot. Our limited staff on site will be able to deliver those documents to the paralegal/attorney handling your case.

Immigration Court, ICE and USCIS closures

EOIR: All non-detained aliens’ immigration court hearings scheduled between March 16, 2020, and April 10, 2020, are postponed. Any court filing deadlines remain. Detained hearings will proceed as normal.

USCIS: USCIS biometrics, adjustment of status, InfoPass, and naturalization appointments are postponed until April 1, at a minimum.

Department of State–American Consulates: In response to the concerns brought on by the spread of COVID-19, commonly referred to as the Coronavirus, certain consular posts have begun alerting applicants of reduced or temporarily suspended visa services. In an attempt to keep stakeholders apprised, the Department of State has compiled a list of embassy websites for country-specific information concerning COVID-19. This page provides links to the COVID-19 dedicated page for each nation’s embassy, which includes information concerning health services, recommendations, and in some cases, information concerning a reduction or temporary suspension of visa services. 

All appointments in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, are temporarily suspended.

ICE-ERO: The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”), Chicago Field Office, Enforcement and Removal Operations is closed until at least April 2.

The field offices (Indianapolis, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Springfield, Kansas City, Louisville) are closed for all appointments except the following:

  • Paying a bond for a detainee in custody
    • The Chicago, Milwaukee and Springfield offices will not be taking bonds.
  • Broken GPS ankle monitors
  • Attorneys filing legal documents

For all others, you will receive a newly scheduled appointment in the mail after the office reopens.

ICE also issued guidance on how it is handling COVID-19. ICE will temporarily adjust its enforcement posture beginning March 18, 2020, with ERO focused on enforcement on public safety risks and individuals subject to mandatory detention based on criminal grounds. For those individuals who do not fall into those categories, ERO will exercise discretion to delay enforcement actions until after the crisis or utilize alternatives to detention, as appropriate. ICE notes that, “Consistent with its sensitive locations policy, during the COVID-19 crisis, ICE will not carry out enforcement operations at or near health care facilities, such as hospitals, doctors’ offices, accredited health clinics, and emergent or urgent care facilities, except in the most extraordinary of circumstances. Individuals should not avoid seeking medical care because they fear civil immigration enforcement.”

We will do our best to continue to communicate any delays and postponements.

Conclusion:

We are sensitive to the disruption that the Coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic is causing in all of our current and prospective clients’ lives. As new developments become available, we will do our best to advise our clients appropriately and promptly. We will continue to monitor CDC recommendations and do our best to provide our clients with the services they rely on while also minimizing the risk of exposure and transmission so that both our employees’ and current and prospective clients’ health is not compromised.

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