CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The court hearing for Oscar Solarzano is expected to be brief, but attorneys like Gary Mauney said it’s the start of a much longer legal process.

"All persons are entitled to due process under the United States Constitution," Mauney said.

The focus stays on the criminal case here in Mecklenburg County even though the suspect was undocumented, Mauney explained. Their immigration status does not take over the case, at least not yet.

"The state system is not the immigration system," Mauney said. "The state court prosecutors will probably be working with federal officials that are part of the immigration departments and agencies of the federal government."

If Solarzano faces charges for illegal re-entry after deportation, Kenneth Pham, an immigration attorney, said the pr

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