Lawyer's error may separate parents from a disabled child

But the attorney, Carlos A. Cruz, didn't turn in the required documents and the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case. Cruz got the case reopened but then failed to submit documents again, resulting in a second dismissal.

Immigration agents deported Jose Galvez last month and set a deadline for his wife and 19-year-old daughter to leave the country.

Maria Galvez hired a new attorney, who filed an emergency motion to reopen the case based in part on the incompetence of the previous lawyer. The 9th Circuit ruled earlier this month that the case could be reopened.

But immigration attorneys worry that a recent request by U.S. Atty. Gen. Michael Mukasey may jeopardize their ability in the future to get cases reopened based on similar grounds.

Mukasey asked attorneys to submit briefs on whether there is a constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel and whether immigrants should be entitled to relief based on their claims of an incompetent attorney. Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller said that the order applies only to specific cases and that Mukasey is not considering a policy change.

But the American Bar Assn. submitted a letter to the attorney general's office saying that it "considers the right to effective assistance of counsel in immigration matters to be of the utmost importance" and that immigrants can suffer "grave consequences" when mistakes are made. The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California also wrote a letter to the U.S. attorney general, citing precedent that immigrants should not be deported solely because of the mistakes of their counsel.

"The outcome of your review has the potential to radically change the immigration system in a fundamental manner," the ACLU letter read.

The Galvez's new attorney, Stacy Tolchin, said the incompetence the family encountered is not unique.

"This is a huge problem, attorneys not following through," said Tolchin, of the Los Angeles office of Van Der Hout, Brigagliano & Nightingale. "They take the money, they file one document, they do nothing and the people are deported."

Barbara Coe of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform said the Galvez family -- and millions of other families -- violated immigration laws and should not be allowed to stay in the United States, regardless of the quality of the attorney.