CALIFORNIA LEGISLATORS WANT LAWS TO PROTECT IMMIGRANTS FROM FRAUD

Last week we reported on efforts underway in Arizona to make immigration “consultants,” often called notarios, accountable for the damage they often do to people’s status in the US and opportunity to reside here legally.  Lawmakers in California are taking similar steps to protect the state’s immigrants, legal and otherwise, from unscrupulous people who would take advantage of their situation.

On January 1^st a new law went into effect that raises the bond that must be posted by immigration consultants from ,000 to ,000.  Over the next few months, prosecutors in Los Angeles will conduct investigations to identify those consultants who have not paid the increased bond, as well as for those who have not posted any bond at all.  Only a few days later, the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles began assembling a team of private lawyers to offer advice to those who have been victimized by bogus consultants.

 One legislator has proposed increasing the fine for perpetrating such fraud from ,000 to 0,000.  Officials hope to reduce the rate of this sort of fraud, which has been steadily increasing over the past few years.  Prosecutors in particular are stressing that they want to prosecute fraudulent consultants, not report undocumented people to the INS.