Attorneys: Obama immigration plan could lead to scams
Idaho immigration attorneys say they’re worried about the possibility of new scams targeting immigrants following President Barack Obama’s announcement of a deferred action program for immigrants facing deportation.
“They saw an opportunity to step in and make some money,” said Pocatello-based immigration attorney Esperanza Granados of potential scam artists.
“They’ll say, ‘If you pay me money upfront, I can fill out the forms for you and submit them,’ or they might also say that they have contacts with immigration,” said Granados.
But the deferred action forms aren’t yet available.
“That won’t happen (until) spring of next year, sometime next year,” said Granados.
Granados said every time there’s been an executive order on immigration, scams have soon followed.
She isn’t the only one who’s concerned. The Idaho chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association is also warning of scams.
“My fear is that notarios or other unlicensed immigration consultants will take advantage of these announcements to scam people,” said Angela Levesque, chair of AILA’s Idaho chapter.
Granados said scam artists will often call themselves “notarios” because in many Latin counties notarios have a lot of the same powers as attorneys.
“It causes a lot of confusion,” said Granados.
Of the numerous scams flooding the Pocatello Police Department each day, police say they haven’t seen any targeting immigrants but that they wouldn’t be surprised to learn of one.
“You have the language barrier. They may not be familiar with our laws,” said Lt. Paul Manning with the department.
Granados said this makes immigrants particularly vulnerable.
“Immigrants don’t know who to go to or where they can go for assistance,” said Granados.
Should you come across a notario, Grandos said you should contact your local authorities or the Federal Trade Commission. You can do so using this form and remain anonymous should you wish.
Granados will be holding an information session about the president’s executive order on Dec. 16 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Sa-sys Event Center in Blackfoot.
