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SPOILER What did the attorney really mean?

posted 13 years ago by soufian-86
11 replies | jump to latest

At the prison the father gets assigned an attorney that will represent him for free. He gives a final question about whether or not the father is going to hire a coyote to get back and if he understands him? Does this mean he wants him to do it, or really as a warning not to. I thought hiring a coyote to get back would've occured to him before the lawyer even asked seeing as though the father is more familiar with his home country.

Any thoughts? I'm confused.

[–] MisterNick 13 years ago

I think it was a warning as Coyotes are usually either dangerous or a complete rip off. I believe he wanted him to way his options carefully.

[–] Eightythreeyearoldguy 13 years ago

Yes, it was definitely a warning to weigh his options carefully.

Life, every now and then, behaves as though it had seen too many bad movies

[–] usherman 13 years ago

What I want to know is what legal reprocussions is he talking about? All they would do is just deport him again. It can't get any worse than that anyway so he has nothing to lose except an extra 3k or so.

[–] steinmike 13 years ago

I think the legal repercussions could be anything from winding up locked in prison for a long time for once again illegally entering the United States to possible prosecution of his family if it were proven they knew he returned to the country and helped him hide from authorities.

I'm sure he would think even worse things could happen. Yet he was still willing to risk them to return.

[–] dogstarman1 13 years ago

I got the impression that the lawyer was hinting for him to go the coyote route.

[–] DaveinNYC 13 years ago

Ya, same here. I got the sense he was telling him not to waste his time going the legal route but had to say it the way he did so it doesn't seem that he's advocating doing something illegal.

[–] RCeditor 13 years ago

I wonder how long "the legal route" would take?

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[–] trollkillah 13 years ago

What the lawyer meant by, "there will be legal repercussions", is that while it might be tempting to turn around and come back by the coyote route, if he gets caught again, he will face some serious jail time, not just get deported again. In an earlier scene, Blasco mentions that in a post 9/11 world, getting across the border isn't as easy as it use to be; by just walking through the border crossing at Juarez. That now it requires a dangerous 3 day journey by coyote, and that he had a cousin that didn't make it and his body was never found.

[–] Adler-99 13 years ago

I got the impression that the lawyer was saying "don't do it" but implying "that's the only way you'll get back here with your son."

Later Galindo could claim that he didn't understand the lawyer, who was speaking in English (yes, Galindo said he could, but, hey, technicality).

[–] aabonce 13 years ago

After the new immigration reforms the law now says:

"After an alien has been legally "removed" from the United States, federal criminal law makes it a FELONY for that alien to reenter (or be found in) the country without approval of the government.

Under relevant federal statutes, an alien who commits illegal reentry as described above will be punished with:

A fine; or
Imprisonment for not more than two years; or
Both fine and imprisonment."

[–] Trackmaster 13 years ago

I'd imagine that because he's an "adviser" and not a real lawyer on retainer he has his hands tied as to the advice that he gives him. He can't legally advice that anybody breaks the law. If he was the actual lawyer, there would be privilege, and anything would go.