Capitalizing on the Fears of Undocumented Immigrants

With the heightened anti-immigrant rhetoric from the current administration and the increase of immigration arrests, immigrants have become more vulnerable to scams that promise to help them with their status.

Alexandra’e Wint, former constituent aide in the Office of the NYS Assembly, comments in a letter on the increase in immigration scams saying, “Over recent years we have seen an influx of criminal activity aimed at defunding and misleading our foreign residents.” He states that the most common scam occurs through an electronic medium where information is sent under the disguise of an official communication source. Wint says, “Too often, new citizens and even those aspiring towards residency, may not always be proficient in English; resulting in criminals to take advantage of the situation.”

One kind of scam that immigrants fall victim to is getting legal advice from “notarios” who are, according to the American Bar Association, “Individuals who represent themselves as qualified to offer legal advice or services concerning immigration or other matters of law, who have no such qualification.” Other times these scams are from actual paid lawyers who will submit paperwork that could put an undocumented immigrant in danger of deportation.

Daniel Drabkin, a paralegal for Usher Law Group, P.C., a law firm that specializes in criminal immigration, says that notarios will at times knowingly or unknowingly mess up an immigrant’s chances for citizenship by incorrectly filling out immigration forms. He continues on to say, “they’ll lead them in the wrong direction [and] they’ll charge them a lot of money,”

These immigrants feel so fearful of the current administration’s actions that they have no choice but to scramble and find some way to gain citizenship. In desperation, immigrants will fall for misinformation from people who will manipulate them out of thousands of dollars.

“Attorneys or notaries or fraudulent people will often see the desperation in your eyes and defraud you based on that,” said Luz Medrano, a staff attorney for CUNY Citizenship Now.

Medrano, one of the 2 staff attorneys that answered questions at Brooklyn College’s Free Immigration Service informational on Monday. She talked about how unethical some lawyers can be if they receive constant pressure from their clients.

She goes on to say, “There are some unscrupulous attorneys and they could give you advice but if all you’re telling them is ‘but no I want to put in something’ then they are going to help you put in something whether you’re eligible or not because you’re the client and you ultimately directed them to do that. ”

Jesus Perez Director of Student Standing and Academic Advisement at Brooklyn College, spoke on some of the services that are available to educate immigrants. He mentioned, “The most important part is correct and clear accurate information”. He continued on to explain that the reason why people tend to fall for these scams is because the people involved are members of an immigrant’s own community . The Federal Trade Commission’s article on “Scams Against Immigrants” states that “Even people who mean well — a friend, your pastor, a teacher, or a relative — can cause problems for you later. Helpers like these should only write or translate what you tell them to, not give you advice on what to say or which forms to use.”

Medrano mentions how people are not going to a lawyer; they will go to a tax agency, a notary, or a friend of a friend in the community who is known to help people with their status. She said, “I think our own communities hurt themselves more than help sometimes.” She continues on saying, “You think it’s because it’s your people they’re going to be looking for you, they’re looking out for their pockets”

According to the Human Rights Watch , in comparison to 2016, since the start of Donald Trump’s presidency through the end of September 2017, the number of undocumented immigrants that have been detained increased by 42 percent. The Human Rights Watch also reported that the arresting of immigrants that have no criminal convictions has tripled compared to the number of arrests in 2016.

“Get help before it’s too late, especially under the new administration you never know what’s going to happen” said Drabkin

To find some immigration services check out the Department of Homeland Security at : https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learners/find-help-your-community

For those living in New York City, check out this pdf from the New York Immigration Coalition : http://www.thenyic.org/sites/default/files/Low_Cost_Immigration_Service_Providers__1.10.2017.pdf