Immigration attorney Chris Christensen provides insight into where we’ve been and what we might expect in the U.S. immigration system in the year ahead.

“I think it’s important for immigrants to understand that regardless of their legal status, that they have rights in this great country,” he said.

In this episode, Chris shares valuable Know Your Rights information and practical steps people can take to reduce their risk if they are undocumented or have temporary immigration status.

“The government doesn’t have the funds, the resources, to remove (every undocumented resident),” Chris said, “and I think most of society would agree that it doesn’t make sense to deport the hardworking farmworker who has no criminal record and who has a family full of U.S. citizen children, who pays taxes and contributes, who goes to the local church every Sunday.”

Chris founded Christensen Legal PLLC in December 2017 so that he could continue serving the ‎immigrant community in Idaho and beyond. A Caldwell native and graduate of ‎Caldwell High School, Chris always had a passion for Spanish and started learning early. ‎From 2013-2015 he directed the Migrant Farmworker Law Center ‎at Indiana Legal Services, visiting labor camps in Indiana and talking to ‎migrant field workers about their rights, housing, pay, taxes, immigration options, and more.‎

Chris said, “It is that human connection, the life-altering impact that I can have to better somebody’s life, that keeps me doing this.”