Congress has yet to act on immigration reform, but community advocates say illegal immigrants are already being victimized by scammers promising to help legalize their status.
Community advocate Gina Bellazetin said illegal immigrants have told her they've paid $500 to $2,000 to people who identify themselves as lawyers or notary publics who say they'll help them adjust their status.
"Right now I'm telling them that nothing has passed," said Bellazetin, victim advocate for the South Salt Lake Police Department. "If they pay money now, it does not guarantee a visa."
The concerns, raised at a recent community information fair, have prompted Bellazetin to make immigration policy the topic of the next meeting, scheduled for Tuesday.
The House has passed an enforcement-only measure, and the Senate stalled debate on a comprehensive measure Friday. It's yet not clear what final legislation might look like, if it passes at all.
Timothy Wheelwright, chairman of the Utah chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said such scams are common when Congress takes up immigration.
The problem generally stems from notarios, or notary publics, promising services they're not legally able to provide, he said.
"In Latin American countries (notaries) are at the same level as an attorney," he said. "These notarios start putting the out the word they can help you get your paperwork in order because of what's taking place in Washington. . . . They prey upon the ignorance of people in the community."
Wheelwright said the notarios usually don't fill out any paperwork at all. And if they actually do fill out paperwork, all that does is alert federal authorities to an immigrant's illegal status, making them subject to deportation.
Victoria Kidman, chairwoman of the Utah State Bar's Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee, said Latin American and Vietnamese immigrants seem to be the most common targets of legal scams, and they're not all related to immigration status.
The problem is so serious that her committee is forming a subcommittee to deal with such scams. Kidman said efforts are being made to educate immigrants so they don't fall prey to scammers, and to toughen state laws.
"It could be hiring someone to help out with something as simple as a parking ticket," she said. "You don't really need to hire someone to help, but they don't know that."
One problem Kidman is running into is that many such fraud cases aren't reported because of threats of deportation. For those that are reported, the only penalty available under state current law is civil contempt, said Kidman, whose committee would like to see lawmakers enact a criminal penalty.
"That's my frustration, is how to get these people to report cases without the fear of deportation, which has been hammered into them," she said. "It's such an injustice all the way around to these folks who don't have the money to begin with."
E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com