Hernan Taylor & Lee is committed to protecting the constitutional rights of individuals, particularly in the area of immigrants’ rights. Throughout its history, HTL has stood up and defended against anti-immigrant and unconstitutional laws at the state and local level and pursued litigation on behalf of individuals whose civil rights were violated. Litigation
When necessary, Hernan Taylor & Lee has, and will continue to, pursue litigation in response to violations of individual’s civil rights, or larger scale efforts aimed at interfering with the constitutional rights of groups of people, such as immigrants. As an example, the firm filed suit, with a group of attorneys, against Cherokee County, Georgia in response to its efforts to pass an unconstitutional housing ordinance. A federal judge entered an injunction in the case which has prevented the country from enforcing the ordinance.
Legislation
The attorneys of Hernan Taylor & Lee testify on a regular basis in front of state and local legislative bodies in response to proposed laws and ordinances that violate the constitution. Attorneys with Hernan Taylor & Lee have committed countless hours of their personal time to aggressively fighting against unconstitutional laws at the state level and proposed by county/municipal governments in Georgia. As an example, attorneys have made presentations to municipal and county governmental bodies who have sought to limit the first amendment right of individuals to assemble and seek employment (day laborers).
Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Hernan Taylor & Lee has also been involved in advocating for passage of comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level. Comprehensive immigration reform is a vital legislative package needed to fix the nation’s severely broken immigration system. With this reform, the United States could finally secure its border (which is critical to national security), create a functional guest worker program that could match American employers who have been unable to fill job vacancies with American workers with willing foreign born laborers, and deal in a fair and humane way with the millions of indivduals present in the United States who entered without inspection.
In recognition of its work for immigrants’ rights, Hernan Taylor & Lee has received the Excellence in Legal Service Award from MALDEF (the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund - www.maldef.com), a civil liberties award for Pro Bono Legal Services from the ACLU of Georgia (www.acluga.org), and many other accolades.
