{"id":935,"date":"2018-04-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/ib\/2018\/04\/30\/new-jersey-immigrants-scammed-fear-flux-take-control-american-immigration-system\/"},"modified":"2018-04-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-04-30T00:00:00","slug":"new-jersey-immigrants-scammed-fear-flux-take-control-american-immigration-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/ib\/general-immigration\/new-jersey-immigrants-scammed-fear-flux-take-control-american-immigration-system\/","title":{"rendered":"New Jersey Immigrants Scammed as Fear and Flux Take Control of the American Immigration System"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day after day, potential clients walk into my office with boxes of paper and faces of frustration.\u00a0 Minutes into our free immigration consultation, I notice a sense of concern and fear.\u00a0 Soon, I learn that the immigrant has a decades-old immigration problem that was a relatively simple fix long ago.\u00a0 Since then, however, he has spent tens of thousands of dollars on filing and legal fees, been back and forth to the Newark immigration field office for fingerprints, had several immigration interviews, received many denials, requests for evidence, letters from immigration\u2026 and now, at the top of the first box of papers is a letter scheduling the immigrant for court\u2026Immigration Court.\u00a0 The immigrant describes how his prior \u201cimmigration counsel\u201d keeps asking for more and more money.\u00a0 Keeps filing more and more forms.\u00a0 Keeps telling him that the \u201cwin\u201d is a \u201cguarantee.\u201d<\/p>\n

As I begin to look through the boxes, I see dozens of applications, receipt notices, and just random papers in disarray.\u00a0 The applications were random, incomplete, and full of errors.\u00a0 A complete mess.\u00a0 Most should not even have been filed.\u00a0 The immigrant is facing deportation because of what was filed.\u00a0 At the bottom of each application is the signature of a notary\u2014a New Jersey notary whom New Jersey immigrants from Latin American countries have been duped into thinking is a \u201cnotario.\u201d<\/p>\n

As mentioned in a previous post from June 2017<\/a>, a \u201cnotario\u201d in Latin American countries means a \u201cprestigious lawyer.\u201d\u00a0 In the United States, a \u201cnotary public\u201d is not an attorney, and cannot provide legal advice, appear in court, serve as an immigration consultant, or complete immigration forms.\u00a0 A notary public is licensed by the New Jersey Division of Revenue to verify documents and take oaths, and nothing more.\u00a0 Preying on these incorrect assumptions, many \u201cnotario publicos\u201d have taken advantage of hundreds of thousands of immigrants across the United States, by advertising as \u201cnotarios,\u201d completing immigration forms without proper legal experience or required licensing, bringing immigrants in under false pretenses, completing and filing random and unnecessary immigration forms, falsely claiming to be attorneys, and unlawfully providing legal advice, which all too often lead to false hope and a ticket out of the United States.<\/p>\n

The Result:<\/strong> thousands of preventable deportations a year, decades of problem solving with immigration authorities; millions of dollars lost; shame, embarrassment, and becoming prey to the Administration\u2019s intense immigration enforcement policies.<\/p>\n

In a recent article<\/a>,\u00a0Asbury Park Press reporter Steph Solis<\/a> wrote of increasing cases of \u201cnotario publico\u201d immigration fraud throughout New Jersey.\u00a0 This, Solis writes, is because of the proximity of the notary to many immigrants, the \u201ccost\u201d for the service advertised, and a growing fear that keeps many immigrants confined to their own communities.\u00a0 Rather than help an immigrant locate competent immigration counsel, the \u201cnotario publico\u201d pretends to be immigration counsel.<\/p>\n

Solis notes that the \u201cNew Jersey Office of the Attorney General has strict rules about what constitutes notary fraud\u201d with \u201cbusinesses risk[ing] fines over advertising notary and immigration services on the same storefront.\u201d\u00a0 The strict rules, however, lack strict enforcement.\u00a0 For example, when taking a short drive through one of New Jersey\u2019s many Mexican, Brazilian, Ecuadorian, Colombian, Dominican, or Peruvian communities, you will see storefront after storefront advertising \u201cnotarios\u201d or \u201cnotario publicos.\u201d\u00a0 The windows will be littered with signs promising \u201cquick \u2018green cards,\u2019\u201d an \u201ceasy immigration process,\u201d a \u201cguaranteed green card in 30-days,\u201d or, even, a \u201c$199 Green Card Sale.\u201d\u00a0 And, yes, an unwitting immigrant will be walking into the front door.\u00a0 The immigrant will be defrauded of tens of thousands of dollars, denied effective immigration representation, and likely end up in deportation proceedings.\u00a0 Yet another New Jersey immigrant who will end up with boxes full of paper, a face full of frustration, and another decade defending against deportation.<\/p>\n

New Jersey Immigrants Must Remember: <\/strong>Use common sense.\u00a0 \u201cNotario Publico\u201d does not mean \u201cPrestigious Attorney.\u201d\u00a0 Immigration law is more than a form.\u00a0 Results cannot be guaranteed.\u00a0 Be wary, be cautious, and ask questions.<\/p>\n

To learn more about this or any other immigration matter, feel free to contact me,\u00a0Raymond G. Lahoud<\/a>, at\u00a0rglahoud@nmmlaw.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Day after day, potential clients walk into my office with boxes of paper and faces of frustration.\u00a0 Minutes into our free immigration consultation, I notice a sense of concern and fear.\u00a0 Soon, I learn that the immigrant has a decades-old immigration problem that was a relatively simple fix long ago.\u00a0 Since then, however, he has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97,"featured_media":936,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3,98,99,100,27,101],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew Jersey Immigrants Scammed as Fear and Flux Take Control of the American Immigration System - Immigration Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/ib\/general-immigration\/new-jersey-immigrants-scammed-fear-flux-take-control-american-immigration-system\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Jersey Immigrants Scammed as Fear and Flux Take Control of the American Immigration System\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Day after day, potential clients walk into my office with boxes of paper and faces of frustration.\u00a0 Minutes into our free immigration consultation, I notice a sense of concern and fear.\u00a0 Soon, I learn that the immigrant has a decades-old immigration problem that was a relatively simple fix long ago.\u00a0 Since then, however, he has […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/ib\/general-immigration\/new-jersey-immigrants-scammed-fear-flux-take-control-american-immigration-system\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Immigration Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-04-30T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/ib\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2022\/12\/notorio-publico.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"646\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Raymond G. 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