“I worked day and night for three years and for what? To be robbed of $12,000.” Maria was defrauded by a “notario” in Pennsylvania who was practicing law without a license and had promised her immigration relief for which she did not actually qualify. A “notario publico” is actually a type of licensed attorney in Latin American countries. Despite the fact that in Pennsylvania a notary public is only licensed to verify signatures on documents, many unscrupulous individuals use this false cognate to purposely misrepresent their qualifications—intentionally falsely advertising and telling immigrants they are authorized to provide legal assistance. These notarios exploit immigrants’ desire to legalize their status, telling them that relief exists where none does, assuring them that they qualify for visas for which they are not qualified, and charging thousands of dollars to file fraudulent or simply legally insufficient immigration petitions. The notario problem has been exacerbated in recent months by the efforts in Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill.
These consumer fraud schemes devastate families. Victims, including agricultural workers who earn only $12,000 to $15,000 annually, commonly pay $6,000 to $12,000 to notary publics who promise that they can “fix their papers.” Filing inaccurate or fraudulent immigration applications can have a permanent negative effect on an individual’s ability to qualify for real immigration benefits in the future and, worst of all, can lead to deportation, resulting in separation from family and community.
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