It's obvious that my friends were scammed by being told not to seek help from elected officials that they knew. The folks in charge of their case wanted to just keep the money train rolling. They knew that it was highly unlikely that the INS would move on these folks, thereby giving them lots of time to collect and collect.
My husband shortcutted that little scheme by writing a letter to a very highly placed elected official that knew this family, but previously had not known of their problem. The green cards were returned promptly, and my friends and their 'attorney' never knew what happened.