Posted on 07/18/2005 10:40:52 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
(07.17.05 - AP) — Illegal immigrant Fermin Gutierrez shelled out $1,500 after a notary public said he could get the Mexican national U.S. residency within months, instead of the years the green-card process normally takes.
But months later, Gutierrez started getting letters from the federal government saying that he illegally filed for residency and could be deported. That's when he knew the notary had cheated him.
"I was asking myself, 'How was it that I had fallen for this?"' Gutierrez said through a translator.
Gutierrez, 33, is one of about 5,000 Chicago-area immigrants affected by a recent class action settlement with the Department of Homeland Security that makes them eligible for a $1,000 reimbursement. The settlement also allows illegal immigrants to ask that the federal government stop trying to deport them.
To receive a green card, which allows an immigrant to remain in the U.S. indefinitely, a family member has to file a petition on the immigrant's behalf. The application remains pending until a visa is available, which can take years.
Before April 30, 2001, a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act allowed illegal immigrants to pay a $1,000 fee and remain in the country while their eligibility for permanent residence is being determined. Before the 2001 deadline, thousands of Chicago-area immigrants followed the bad advice of some notary publics, who told them if they paid the $1,000, they would become permanent residents.
The Chicago office of the Department of Homeland Security was flooded with immigrants who paid the fee, assuming it would lead to permanent resident status. The office accepted the applications — and money — without making sure the applicants were eligible to be considered for residency.
"We had lines and lines of people dropping off applications," said Marilu Cabrera, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Chicago. "We were giving the applicant the benefit of the doubt."
When government officials eventually started reviewing the applications, they found many to be ineligible and used that information to begin deportation proceedings against the illegal immigrants.
The lawsuit, filed in April 2001, argued the government violated laws by accepting the applications, keeping the $1,000 fee, and using the information to begin deportation proceedings.
The settlement covers people who filed applications with the Chicago office between Jan. 29, 1997, and April 30, 2001. Besides the $1,000 reimbursement, it gives them the chance to ask the government — by Dec. 10 — to not actively seek to deport them.
The Chicago office's blind acceptance of the immigrants' applications opened the door for many unscrupulous notaries.
One investigation found a notary had defrauded about 250 immigrants, said Norma Reyes, commissioner of Chicago's Department of Consumer Services.
The notary who Gutierrez hired eight years ago for $500 was later investigated. He was fined under a city citation of immigration fraud and the business he worked for was closed.
Immigrant advocates often warn of notary publics looking to defraud people.
In Latin nations, a "notario publico" is an attorney-like official with high legal standing, and there are some U.S. notaries who misrepresent themselves as lawyers, said Timothy Reiniger, executive director of the National Notary Association, which helps legislators create laws that combat fraud.
All states have requirements to become a notary, but Illinois, California, Texas, New York, Nevada, Arkansas, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah have provisions that aim to prevent notaries from pretending to be notarios, Reiniger said.
After Gutierrez was misled by his notary, he contacted the Heartland Alliance's Midwest Immigrant & Human Rights Center, a Chicago organization that provides legal services for immigrants and refugees.
Lawyers for that group, along with others, reached the settlement on June 20. Since then, the center has received more than 500 calls from immigrants from Mexico, Poland and other countries, said Mary Meg McCarthy, the center's director.
Meanwhile, Gutierrez awaits word on his green card as his deportation case is on hold. But the married father of two is keeping his hopes up.
"I'm optimistic," he said. "I have all the faith in God."
BUMP
the illegals got cheated, but the homeland people are idiots.
I don't understand why they just weren't deported. Maybe they were there to do some siding on bayourod's house or something.
"In Latin nations, a "notario publico" is an attorney-like official with high legal standing..."
Ya, well this ain't El Salvador.
If we ever elect patriotic leaders again, we will be able to use plenty of lists to help to locate and deport the criminal invaders.
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