The Immigration Reform Lawyer Activist Road Show
Jamie Hernan, Christopher Taylor and Jerome Lee are three lawyers who once worked together at a large corporate law firm in Atlanta, Georgia. The men were bored in the world of corporate law and decided to start a law firm on their own, not knowing at the time where it would lead.
As it has turned out, their decision has led them all over the place. They have an office on wheels, which is known as the "Abogadomovil," or "Lawyermobile." The vehicle is a 32 foot long RV which serves as a rolling billboard for the Hernan, Taylor and Lee Law Firm, a shuttle for immigration reform petitions, and a bus to immigration rallies for immigration activists, among other things. The three 30-something lawyers drive the mobile office to apartment complexes and soccer matches to educate illegal immigrants about immigration law, with the help of their Spanish speaking paralegal assistants.
Fans of the "Lawyermobile" lawyers say that they are lawyers with a heart and are genuinely concerned about the issues affecting illegal immigrants in the United States. Critics of the unique legal team say that they are only concerned with their bank balances and have chosen to practice immigration law because it is a largely untapped legal market.
The president of the Marietta-based Dustin Inman Society, which is an anti-immigration coalition that advocates securing U.S. borders and strict enforcement of anti-immigration laws, is, not surprisingly, one of Hernan, Taylor and Lee's biggest critics.
D.A. King, who is also a columnist for the Marietta Daily Journal, says that he does not respect the lawyers on wheels.He is irritated that Hernan, Taylor and Lee have built their law practice around defeating laws and blocking local ordinances that would slow the growth of the illegal immigrant population in the state.He says that as their business grows, so does the illegal immigrant population.
It is true that Georgia's illegal immigrant population has been growing dramatically in recent years.An estimated half-million illegal immigrants now live in the state.
Jamie Hernan responds to King's statements by simply stating that local government has no place in deciding immigration issues.
And it is true, if an anti-immigration law is proposed in Georgia, you can bet the "Lawyermobile" will be there to fight it.
The lawyers are responsible for many instances of local governments backing down from their anti-immigration ordinances.In Cherokee County, when the county banned landlords from making their rental properties available to illegal immigrants, Hernan, Taylor and Lee sued the county, causing them to back off their ordinance.In July, the lawyers raised a constitutionally correct eyebrow when Gwinette County required that the companies they do business with to prove that all of their employees are legal residents.Just last month the "Lawyermobile" rolled into Cobb County to defeat a proposed ordinance against day laborers which was designed to shut out illegal immigrants.
Like it or not, the law firm of Hernan, Taylor and Lee is undeniably successful.They now have offices in Roswell, Canton and Tampico, Mexico, in addition to their office on wheels.The lawyers are wealthy and happy and say they will continue to fight for the rights of illegal immigrants no matter what their critics may say about them.
