American Bar Association Fight Notario Fraud Project Seeks Volunteers
Friday, March 13, 2009
- Organization: American Bar Association Commission on Immigration
The American Bar Association Commision on Immigration has launched a new FightNotarioFraud project that is dedicated to putting an end to immigration consulting fraud.
Unscrupulous "notarios" or "immigration consultants" have become an increasingly serious problem in immigrant communities throughout the United States. Often using false advertising and fraudulent contracts, notarios hold themselves out as qualified to help immigrants obtain lawful status, and may charge a lot of money for help that they never provide.
The FightNotarioFraud project is dedicated to putting an end to immigration consulting fraud, with three main goals:
- To provide attorneys, and other individuals, with information on how to take action against notarios. This includes:
a. How to report immigration consultants who are engaging in the unauthorized practice of law to state and local authorities.
b. How to report immigration consultants to state bar associations for engaging in the unauthorized practice of law.
c. Possible theories that might form the basis of a civil suit against attorneys complicit in immigration consulting fraud.
- To provide a depository of pleadings and other forms that might be useful in reporting, or pursuing a case against, an immigration consultant.
- To facilitate the referral of victims of immigration consulting fraud to litigation and consumer protection attorneys interested in representing them, pro bono, in civil litigation against fraudulent immigration consultants.
If you are an attorney interested in taking a pro bono case involving notario fraud, please click here the link below to submit your contact information to the project.
