USCIS Launches Plan to Crack Down on Illegitimate Immigration Practitioners

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services director Alejandro Mayorkas has asked the U.S. attorney generals to help him in the fight against individuals and businesses portraying themselves as immigration lawyers, despite not being authorized to practice law. These fake lawyers are sometimes known as “notarios,” and can charge extremely high fees and give fraudulent, inaccurate advice to people seeking immigration benefits. The campaign aims to track down and stop these practitioners, in addition to educating immigrants about how to recognize fake lawyers.

Last May, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers filed a complaint against a Colorado Springs-based business for defrauding hundreds of people who needed immigration assistance. The Colorado Springs Non-Profit Corporation, which also operated under the names Immigration Center, U.S. Immigration Center, ImmigrationHelpLine.org and U.S. Government Helpline, sold forms that are otherwise available for free on www.uscis.gov, and frequently sold the wrong forms. Further, employees of these businesses were paid on commission according to how many sales they made, and they falsely advertised themselves as “document specialists” who supposedly had a special, “inside relationship” with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. However, none of these employees had prior government experience and were not authorized to give legal advice. The company was fined $2.5 million dollars for taking advantage of people who went to them for advice.

If you feel that you have been deceived by a fake immigration lawyer, you can make a complaint with the Colorado attorney general’s office on their website, located here: https://www.coloradoattorneygeneral.gov/departments/consumer_protection/file_consumer_complaint




To read more about USCIS’ campaign and the case against the Colorado Springs Non-Profit Corporation, please visit:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/09/AR2011030903015.html

http://www.walletpop.com/2010/05/18/colorado-immigrant-aid-business-penalized-2-5-million-in-fraud/

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