Immigration Fraud
Every year immigrants throughout the United States are cheated out of tens of millions of dollars by incompetent and dishonest practitioners who are rarely punished for their dishonest and incompetent work. Most of these practitioners are illegal "immigration consultants" (also known as "notarios") who pose as public-spirited members of their immigrant communities who know how to save immigrants from high lawyers fees. Many are very skilled in PR and have befriended members of the State Assembly and Senate who have repeatedly blocked legislation intended to put them out of business. Fortunately, in Santa Barbara County the two recognized non-profits, IMPORTA and Immigrant Hope, offer highly competent and honest immigration legal fees without charge (in the case of IMPORTA) or for low fees (in the case of Immigrant Hope).