“Frivolous asylums”: this is the new type of fraud to deceive migrants in the United States with the cooperation of lawyers

One risk that migrants are constantly exposed to is the risk of falling into the hands of criminal groups, leaving them without money or, in the worst case, leading to situations where they are truly between life and death.

Among these scams is a growing problem that Univision is warning about, calling the strange practices “frivolous asylums.”

These “frivolous asylums,” explains attorney Lilia Velásquez of the American Network, are “the ones in which the immigrant is deceived by organized crime and concocts a story to bypass the system and stay in the United States.”

Pattern of organized crime in ‘frivolous asylums’

Velásquez, who specializes in immigration issues, explains that migrants “are promised in exchange for a monetary payment that they will be able to deceive federal immigration agents and have their cases approved by judges.”

Without scruple, those behind this fact surround the immigrant and as if he were a script They tell you what to say and how to act if you are encountered by Border Patrol personnel.

Lawyer Velásquez, a professor at the University of California, told Univision: “Unfortunately, many fall into the hands of these gangs who tell them what to do and say if they are found or detained at the border.”

For the professor and expert on immigration, this is a “serious problem” and she analyzes that the government must “put an end to organized crime” to protect the right to asylum.

Criminals disguise themselves as immigration lawyers and judges to defraud immigrants in the United States

How and when is frivolous asylum discovered?

According to him, a lack of experience means that lawyers do not realize that they are dealing with deception.

Often “the immigrants themselves tell him in the preliminary hearing room that they told them what they had to say on the other side of the border.”

At that moment everything falls. “The lawyer,” said Velásquez, “must withdraw from the case because there is no longer any basis. It is an ethical question, and then the asylum application becomes ‘frivolous’.

Fake asylums?

Another lawyer, Álex Gálvez, is proposing the scam known as “the work permit fraud” from Los Angeles, California, Univisión reports. They make the migrant believe that he is eligible for a work permit (EAD).

Lawyer Julio Oyhanarte had already warned about this deception in his videos, explaining: “What they do is take that immigrant’s case to court, but then ask for asylum.”

“That is, they placed him in a deportation court and asked for asylum, an asylum for which he does not qualify and, what is worse, for which he never found out that anyone asked for it,” Oyhanarte said.

The trial begins, the person will never appear in court – because he didn’t know – and one day he will lose (the trial) because he didn’t go and they will deport him in absentia because he didn’t appear in court .

Beware of this scam that targets immigrants in the United States: they get work permits that could cost you deportation

What happens to certain lawyers

Unfortunately, lawyers are also active in these practices.

“The problem is that many lawyers who commit fraud become profit-generating companies. They collect the costs of the services they promise to immigrants and, by not delivering on their promises, they let them down,” said Juan José Gutiérrez, director of the Coalition for the Flat Rights of Immigrants in Los Angeles, California, v. Univision. .

These are the 10 questions you should not forget to ask when meeting with an immigration lawyer

What you need to do to defend yourself against scams in the United States

The USCIS, the information chain indicates, offers tools to avoid scams:

If you need legal advice on immigration matters, USCIS says, make sure the person helping you is an attorney or licensed representative who works for an organization recognized by the Department of Justice. “No one else is qualified to give you legal advice on immigration matters.”

(JO)