If the offer for help getting immigration papers sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
That’s the message federal authorities are spreading in immigrant communities as investigators crack down on those who run scams promising immigration benefits.
Most of the scams involve people who pretend to be able to provide legal or immigration services, and take victims’ money — sometimes thousands of dollars — but fail to deliver.
“It’s becoming pervasive,” said Bill Wright, a spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. “We’re trying to do everything we can to put an end to it.”
A new initiative will educate immigrants about the scams, how to get legitimate legal help and how to report fraud. At the same time, Justice Department officials say federal law enforcement officers and local police are pursuing civil and criminal cases against scammers.
The crackdown aims to stop people like Robert Mejia, a Germantown man who pleaded guilty last year to posing as an ICE agent and promising citizenship papers in exchange for cash, and Kuang Hao Chou and Ling Yu Hsieh, a Herndon couple who admitted this year that they conspired with a corrupt Department of Homeland Security Supervisor to get fraudulent documents for other immigrants.
The campaign was started last week in Washington and seven other cities that Wright said were chosen in part because they have large immigrant populations who could fall prey to the scams.
The effort includes brochures, posters, billboards, transit advertisements and online resources in 14 languages.
Reid Trautz, director of practice and professionalism for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said he was encouraged by a change to the Federal Trade Commission Consumer Complaints database that lets victims report immigration-services scams. Law enforcement agencies use the database to track complaints.
“A central database will help bring more of these bloodsuckers to justice,” Trautz said.
In some cases, attorneys themselves have submitted fraudulent documents about their clients to help them get immigration benefits. The Executive Office for Immigration Review has disciplined more than 50 immigration lawyers in the District, Maryland and Virginia over the past decade for misconduct, including fraud convictions.
The office publicizes that list on its website, provides information about who is qualified to represent someone in immigration proceedings and tries to point immigrants toward legitimate counsel. Spokeswoman Elaine Komis said officials are reaching out to community organizations to assist immigrants in finding low-cost, competent lawyers.
“As we put bad guys out of business, it is important to encourage legitimate service providers to step in and fill the gap,” she wrote in an email.
