Posted:

Notaries scam immigrants as fake lawyers

 

By Travis Loller

The Associated Press

Published: Tuesday, February 6, 2007

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - When Salvadoran immigrant Irma Yolanda Membreno-Aleman wanted to apply for temporary asylum, she did what she would have done for any legal matter back home: She went to see a "notario publico.''

It was a lost-in-translation mistake that cost her thousands of dollars, a rejection of her petition and loss of her work authorization and her job, a lawsuit claims.

In much of Latin America, most notaries public are also lawyers. In the United States, notaries are not lawyers and cannot give legal advice; they can only administer oaths and witness signatures.

The difference has allowed scam artists to prey on immigrants with limited English skills and little understanding of the U.S. legal system by misrepresenting themselves as lawyers, immigration lawyers say.

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It is a growing problem. But prosecutors rarely bring cases against these scam artists, in part because the victims are often in this country illegally and are afraid to come forward.

Charles Kuck, vice president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said there have been tens of thousands of cases in which notaries passed themselves off as lawyers.

And the problem affects more than just the immigrants who are scammed. Fraudulent and incorrect documents filed by notaries add up to "an unbelievable waste of taxpayer money,'' Kuck said.

"It makes it harder for judges to wade through the real asylum cases when you've got to wade through so much garbage,'' Kuck said. "Instead of 200 applications they have 2,000.''

Ceja Enterprises Inc. in Nashville advertises itself in Spanish as an office that provides legal aid, including help with immigration papers. But Carmen Ceja is only a notary public, and her business card refers to her position as "notaria publica.''

Nashville lawyer Sean Lewis, who is suing Ceja on behalf of Membreno, said many notaries advertise services they are unqualified to perform, such as tax preparation and divorce. (Membreno has since gotten her case reopened, and is living in this country under temporary protective status granted in cases of civil war and natural disasters back home.)

Ceja's office offers "just an interpretation service,'' said her lawyer, Geoffrey Coston. The office employees simply fill out forms based on what clients tell them, and offer no advice, he said.

He said the office sign advertising legal aid was "a bad sign'' that needed to change.

"Most people go to her knowing she's not an attorney,'' he said. "They go because they can't afford an attorney.''

Kuck said any federal immigration reform that offers some type of amnesty to illegal immigrants will make the problem worse if action is not first taken against "notarios'' who prey on immigrants.

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