Last November advocates filed a class action suit against the INS federal court, alleging that thousands of illegal immigrants were defrauded by phony immigration consultants and were not guided by INS officials who were supposed to assist them. It is believed that up to 5,000 improperly filed adjustment of status applications were accepted by the INS, and the undocumented immigrants could be deported after being defrauded by unscrupulous individuals posing as immigration attorneys. The plaintiffs allege that they have been negatively impacted by Chicago INS office’s policies that have resulted in the lose of their files and processing fees, and ultimately the use of their applications as a basis to institute removal proceedings.

Phony immigration consultants, known in Spanish as notarios, have tricked immigrants into sending improper paperwork to the INS. The situation is partly due to the fact that the Spanish word “notario” translates into the English word “judge” or “legal official.” Thus many unwary immigrants have fallen into this trap, believing that the notarios are responsible officials who are in a position to help them legally, and in an official capacity.

The lawsuit, filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) in Chicago, and the Midwest Immigrant and Human Rights Center, seeks to recoup the INS processing fees of at least $300 per applicant and to stop pending deportation proceedings. The complainants allege that the changes in INS policy permitted these notarios to continue to defraud the immigrant community. Up to 5,000 undocumented immigrants, most of whom do not speak or read any English at all, face deportation because they submitted forms between 1997 and 2001 after being defrauded by notarios. Although most of the complaints are from the Mexican community, there have also been complaints from Polish, Chinese, Korean, and other ethnic groups.

The INS has tried to crack down on the notarios who prey on the ethnic communities. INS has aired public service ads on Spanish television stations, as well as running newspaper ads in ethnic newspapers, distributing fliers and meeting monthly with various community groups and agencies to advise them of potential scams. Although the attorneys for the immigrants have said that they do not believe that the INS changed its policy to lure undocumented immigrants, but they said that the damage was still done.

The INS has responded by stressing that the agency can only do so much and that it is the applicant’s responsibility to educate themselves. Those immigrants who inform the INS of having been defrauded still remain subject to deportation, even if they help put a notario behind bars.