Immigrants take guilty pleas without lawyers and can later be deported
By Jeremy Borden, Published: January 27
Luis Bladilir Lopez would have needed a sharp defense lawyer to explain what could happen as the result of pleading guilty to a misdemeanor marijuana charge last year in Prince William County. But Lopez, then 19, was never appointed a lawyer, according to court records. In the end, the consequences were far more serious than he probably could have imagined. As soon as he entered a guilty plea, the federal government had strong grounds to deport him — and did so two months later.
The rest of the story is in the Washington Post which can be found here