Help - Friend Facing Deportation! Advice?

A friend of mine just called and told me his wife has been picked up for being in the US illegally. He's a US Citizen and she arrived here from Indonesia 10 years ago on a student VISA and they were married 3 years later. Unfortunately for them, they hired a shady 'attorney' who never filed their Adjustment of Status (I485) and has since disappeared into the woodwork, leaving them in quite a pickle.

Now, I don't know all the ins-and-outs of their particular case, but I do know they are legitimately married and trying to make an honest go of things except that perhaps they were a bit remiss in trusting their so-called attorney or not as diligent as they might have been in tracking the status of their case (to be fair, a lot of people in this situation find the immigration process very difficult and convoluted, and end up placing a great deal unwarranted of trust into their counsel, which can lead to trouble).

As it stands, she's in a holding cell someplace, can only have 30 minute visits twice a week through telephone and glass wall, and he's unsure if the judge will reopen her case (in which case she'll be deported and banned from the US for 10 years).

My advice to him was to hire a good, reputable attorney who's very familiar with immigration cases, and perhaps to seek an advocate for their case, such as a Senator.

My question to you all is ... what other advice might you give in a situation such as this?

No one else is qualified to give advice on immigration law.

Have him talk to the immigration caseworker. There are many things that can be done without paying an immigration attorney. As a matter of fact, many times the attorneys themselves have the Senator's office take care of certain matters. I know this for a fact.

I told my friend that contacting his senator might get something accomplished in his case where all his lawyers to date have seemed intent on taking him for a ride more than anything else.

I told my friend to generate a complete as possible timeline for all their experiences to date so that anyone who looks at their case (lawyers, senators, etc) will be able to get a feel for it at a glance (and from what I understand, its pretty convoluted).

If there are any immigration lawyers reading here, I apologize if it seems I'm painting with a tarred brush, but from what I've heard from my friend and from my own experience, it hardly seems like these kinds of lawyers have their clients best interests in mind.

as well. Situations like is is part of constituent services. It's likely that s/he has an immigration counsel on staff already.

There is always a caseworker who handles immigration cases. He/she will have a liaison at the U.S.
Immigration Agency.