Virtual Office Attorney

According the the Boston Herald, a judge has ordered a man who posed as a lawyer to swindle immigrants to pay back $300,000 or face additional prison time.

Ralph Cucciniello, 56, pleaded guilty in New Haven Superior Court on Thursday to several counts of larceny, once count of racketeering and three counts of impersonating an attorney. He doesn’t admit guilt but acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him.

Prosecutors said Cucciniello, who has a history of convictions for similar schemes, took about $560,000 from about 60 immigrants in Boston, New York and Greater New Haven. Most were Irish, but others came from Ecuador, Eastern Europe, Italy and Britain.

Judge Richard Damiani said he would consider sentencing Cucciniello to 20 years in prison, suspended after 12, if he pays back the $300,000 to his victims. Otherwise, Damiani said the sentence will be 30 years in prison, suspended after 20.

Cucciniello, who claimed to be a lawyer at a Yale Law School immigration clinic, charged immigrants $5,000 each to file papers he said would lead to a green card. But Assistant State’s Attorney John Waddock said Cucciniello was not an attorney and there was no such clinic.

In my opinion, before hiring a lawyer, check to make sure he has an active license to practice law. 

The American Bar Association, Commission on Immigration, has resources to protect the immigrants from notario fraud. 

In Latin America, the word "notario" refers to highly trained legal experts, but in the U.S., notary publics cannot give legal advice; they can only administer oaths and witness signatures.  Many notarios take money, mishandle cases and/or fail to give accurate legal representation.   

Here is a link to the ABA's consumer education piece in English and Spanish - The Dangers of "Notario" Fraud.  The document includes information:
* to help people determine whether they have been a victim of a notario
* questions to ask before meeting with someone to assist with immigration cases
* regarding contacting a legal services organization for assistance
* applicable federal and state laws
* model rules of professional conduct for attorneys

Since 2004, for one particular client, I have been generally pleased with the professionalism of the USCIS & the Department of State.   This client has had to apply for a waiver that had to be recommended by USCIS then sent to the Department of State for final action.  To add to the drama, the USCIS recommendation was not a guarantee of approval by the Department of State.  However, once this client's waiver was approved, he was fortunately able to take advantage of a pilot program available in his District Office for family based immigration cases that significantly reduced the usual delays in his type of case.

The client's road was not always smooth (contradictory letters from USCIS directing next steps, multiple repeats of biometric testing, travel to and from Application Support Centers to comply with requests from USCIS, short notice for appointments with USCIS, lost income from time away from work to appear at appointments with USCIS, etc.)   

UItimately, I believe due to the professionalism of the immigration attorney (me), the client's particular facts and other factors that cannot be predicted, the client was pleased with the end result and the speed of the results.

Amazingly, this client got actual phone calls from staff at USCIS and Department of State informing of approval of his petitions and waiver.  This was an unexpected "human touch" for an immigrant who was used to being treated unprofessionally throughout his multi-year odyssey.

Hopefully, additional resources allocated from the increase of fees approved in 2007, will produce similar results for other immigrants.  It is my desire that treating immigrants with dignity and humanity will become the rule.....not an exception.

According the the New York Times, American immigration authorities from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, reached an agreement with Vietnam that clears the way for Vietnamese immigrants under deportation orders to be sent back to their country.

After 10 years of negotiations, Vietnam agreed to accept the return of those Vietnamese immigrants ordered deported by the United States, many of whom are convicted criminals.  Until now, Vietnam had generally refused to issue travel documents for the deportees.  The agreement takes effect in 60 days and will last for five years.

United States officials agreed to pay for the deportations of Vietnamese, officials said, and to provide 15 days’ notice to the Vietnamese government before carrying out a deportation.

According to the New York Times, due to an unprecedented surge in immigration applications last summer, legal immigrants will have to wait much longer during the next two years to receive visas or naturalization papers.

Emilio T. Gonzalez, the director of Citizenship and Immigration Services, said that from now until 2010 the agency would take an average of 18 months to process petitions from legal immigrants for citizenship, up from 7 months or less last year. Visas for permanent residents sponsored by relatives in the United States will take one year, up from the current average of six months or less, he said.

In January 2007, when he announced a midyear fee increase of 66 percent for handling immigration documents, Mr. Gonzalez pledged to use the money to “prevent future backlogs,” to reduce the waiting time for naturalization to five months and for permanent resident visas to four months by the end of 2008.

However, before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Mr. Gonzalez said the prospect of higher fees had helped prompt a crush of more than three million applications of all types in June, July and spilling into August, a surge that he called “unprecedented in the history of immigration services of our nation.”

According to Tulsa World, circus owners say restrictive U.S. immigration laws have left them without enough workers.

Congress has failed to approve a provision that allows foreign workers who were in the country on H-2B visas last year to return, and this has left some circuses short of people to sell tickets, build rides and put up tents.

Generally, H-2B visas are given to seasonal workers who must pass a series of background checks and reviews.  Then workers are allowed to stay in the country for 10 months and must pay all taxes. Congress has set a limit on the number of new visas that can be issued in a fiscal year.

Under federal law, 66,000 visas applicants are issued during the fiscal year. That number has already been met. In past years, Congress has passed legislation that allows existing workers in good standing to return on H-2B visas, but amid the debate for immigration reform, that provision has stalled.

First-time applicants for a Michigan driver's license or identification card must prove that they have established a permanent legal presence in the United States, under a requirement taking effect Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2008.

As of Tuesday, applicants for an original driver's license or state-issued ID card must meet four standards in addition to Michigan's driving and physical health requirements by providing documentation of:

A valid Social Security number or ineligibility for one.
Legal and permanent presence in the United States.
Their identity (legal name and date of birth).
Michigan residency.

Currently, the following states do not require drivers to prove legal permanent residency to obtain a license: Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

According to the New York Times, in 2007, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested more than 35,000 illegal immigrants, including unauthorized workers and immigration fugitives, more than double the number in 2006.

This increased enforcement activity caused an increased sense of alarm among Hispanics.  According to a survey by the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group in Washington, 53 percent of Hispanics in the United States worry that they or a loved one could be deported.   

The fear does not only apply to people who are unauthorized to be present in the US.  The anxiety affects spouses, children or other relatives who are legal immigrants and citizens. 

The anxiety is affecting many every day activities many people take for granted.  This includes attending meetings at children's schools, doing without doctor's visits, and shopping in local communities. 

As a result, many stores that cater to immigrants in many communities have closed due to declines in spending by customers.  This decline may be caused by the economy, but ancedotal evidence also point to increased immigration enforcement. 

How long can families live in this constant state of stress and uncertainty? 

I would encourage distressed families to seek out reliable immigration attorneys regarding their own particular immigration circumstances.  Don't rely on rumors and hearsay of friends. 

There may be a strategy to attain legal immigration status.  Armed with a plan of action, rather than constant distress, would be a step toward the security many immigrants were and are seeking here in the United States.