SAN DIEGO. – Thousands of people see their dream of obtaining their legal residence in the United States frustrated due to scammers or "notarios" that make people believe they can arrange their migratory status in exchange for huge amounts of money.
Immigration fraud is a crime trending upward in the San Diego County and the bigger problem is that more than 50 percent of the victims do not report this crime, mainly, fearing they have to report the case to the immigration authorities, according to the Districts Attorney´s Office.
For this reason, on past Thursday local and federal authorities spoke in front of the media about this problem, and assured that the best way to face this issue is if the community reports this kind of scams.
"If these cases are not reported, the problem gets bigger", Michael Wheat, supervisor of the U.S Attorney for the Southern District of California.
Recently, the aforementioned office sentenced an organization that for many years scammed innocent victims.
After a two-year investigation, a sentence of seven years in prison was dictated to the group with the name of "California Legal Service", for scamming at least 150 victims, with illicit earnings of 1.2 million dollars.
"It´s the biggest case we´ve had locally, and one of the biggest in the country", said Derek Benner, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agent.
According to Fernando Carvajal from ICE, the victims that were interviewed to address this issue, were not investigated for their migratory status, since the priority was to arrest the people responsible on the scams.
In relation to this, Jesse Navarro, spokesman for the San Diego County District Attorney, emphasized that his office receives dozens of calls about this problem and that at no time the callers are interrogated about their condition in the country.
Paul Pierre, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) alerted about possible signs that could indicate that the person is being scammed.
"If it sounds too good to be true, that´s because it is", he emphasized. "If the person is not eligible to obtain the citizenship, it doesn´t matter how much money they paid, that will assure nothing".
He said that the way these "notarios" or scam lawyers operate, is by citing the person in an informal place (restaurant, coffee shop), ask them for cash money, and not give the person any receipt.
He emphasized that in the United States, a public notary does not have the legal authority to make that kind of applications.
Among the recommendations for the public are, not to sign any blank document, not allowing your lawyer to keep original documents, not doing any payment via internet, ask for a copy of each document being made, report any suspicious activity, and always ask for a receipt when doing a payment.
"It is a crime very easy to prosecute if there is proof of payments or activities", he emphasized.
The community is being urged to report this type of cases through the 866.DHS.ICE telephone numbers nationwide. Or call the local office at 619.550.5183. Your call and complaint can remain anonymous if you prefer. They speak Spanish.
editorial@sandiegored.com
