The subject of immigration has headlined on the front pages of newspapers, magazines and sites for years, as "immigration reform" is easily one of the most spoken phrases uttered by Americans within the last decade. With the number of deportations closing in or surpassing 2 million, and immigration reform tabled by the Republican-run House of Representative, it's understandable why the subject isn't going away.

In the midst of deportations, there's misery, loss and separation; and there are some who've decided to profit off of unsuspecting undocumented immigrants who are attempting to avoid relocation.

Bogus lawyers, calling themselves notarios, masquerade as immigration consultants or notaries public, who are supposed to help ease the immigration process; however, they do anything but. These individuals primarily advertise their services to the Hispanic community.

These unlicensed individuals are without the proper training and education; they prey on noncitizens, promising them the American dream while submitting them to a financial nightmare.

Undocumented woman Irma Castañeda was unable to work. Her husband was recently deported, and the Horizon City home that he'd built for her was left unfinished. She struggled to feed and support two daughters -- Rosalva, 12, and a 9-year-old by the name of Jackeline, who was born with a developmental disability.

Castañeda then gained the assistance of a notario. Castañeda gave the man $2,000 to help her with the deferred action process, and when she returned to his office to discuss her case, she found a "Now Renting" sign and an empty office where her immigration attorney used to be. She was scammed and her money was stolen. Notario públicos are individuals who set up phony legal offices on the bilingual U.S.-Mexico border, where they can take advantage of the easily confused term. Many understand the term to mean a Mexican lawyer, or notaries public, who are non-legally-trained individuals in the U.S. who have limited legal authority, and attest to the validity of a signature for a nominal fee. The consequence of that confusion is victimization.

"In Latin America it means a lawyer, but in the U.S. a notary public has no right to practice law," said Monica Vaca, assistant director of the division of marketing practices for the Federal Trade Commission, who spoke at the meeting. "They used that confusion to capitalize on people's trust of lawyers."

"There are a lot of complaints about real lawyers who don't give people the right information," Vilma L.Gálvez said to Fox News reporters.

The "lawyers" tend to publicize their services frequently via newspaper or radio, and they claim that they win any case. Then, they require funds up to $10,000 in order to win those cases, and usually that money is demanded upfront.

American Immigration Lawyers' Association and other groups are aware of the farce, and insist that customers check references and referrals -- citing that it's the best way to determine the lawyer's legitimacy. Making sure the individual is registered with state licensing is another way to ward off notarios' deceptive tactics. MIRA and other community-based organizations are planning to help educate immigrant communities by distributing materials in multiple languages at no cost.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has launched a multi-agency campaign to combat these scam artists from preying on victims who are in need of legal assistance. Policymakers, immigration rights advocates, and agency officials have come together in order to explain the initiative; which will focus on enforcement, education, and cross-agency coordination.

The program first launched in January 2010: seven pilot cities across the nation used a three-prong approach to eradicate unauthorized practice of immigration law, or UPIL. This, of course, refers to those individuals who misrepresent themselves, pretending to accredited attorneys and representatives.

"This is a serious national problem that preys on those who live in the shadows," said Denis Riordan, USCIS Director for District 1.

USCIS linked up with the Department of Justice, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Federal Trade Commission to launch the anti-notario task force in 11 other cities, including Boston, and it is expected to expand to 26 district offices across the country. Notarios have snared more than 300 people by charging up $2,100 for services, such as promises to obtain green cards or social security cards.

The only way to catch perpetrators is to report them to authorities, something that many undocumented individuals are unlikely to do due to their illegal status.

The FTC has a consumer complaint database at www.ftc.gov, designed to accept the complaints of those who've been scammed; materials are made available on the website in Spanish as well as English.

The ALPHA Immigrant Center in Boston has revealed that 25 percent of the complaints from Latino clients are related to immigration scams; the programs services 6,000 people annually and 60 percent of clients are Latinos.

Related