Washington Fraud a danger for immigrants offered work permits

By Manuel Valdes Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) -- Immigrant activists scored a major victory when President Barack Obama halted deportations of many illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children, but they now worry that young people hopeful about their futures could be deceived by others looking to make a quick buck. "The biggest risk of a scam is right now," said Jorge Baron of the Seattle-based Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. "Because right now we have to tell people, 'We don't know.'" Baron said he's concerned about unscrupulous people who will ask for money to submit applications, even though there is no process yet. Or that they will try to convince immigrants who don't qualify that they should apply -- for a price. "Part of the problem is because immigration law is so complex. There is this inevitability of wanting to hear good news. There are people who want to believe that," Baron said. Under the administration plan, illegal immigrants will be immune from deportation if they were brought to the United States before they turned 16 and are younger than 30, have been in the country for at least five continuous years, have no criminal history, graduated from a U.S. high school or earned a GED or served in the military. They also can apply for a work permit that will be good for two years with no limits on how many times it can be renewed. From the morning of the announcement, Baron's legal aid office has been fielding a flurry of calls from people wondering if they can apply for the new immunity. But the process of how people can apply won't be known for about another six weeks. Applicants "need to be patient," Baron said, and when there is an actual process they should seek qualified help. Even without the new immunity rule, the country's immigration system is rife with fraud and scams. Illegal immigrants often use forged documents to get work. Then there are scammers who target the illegal immigrants desperate to get legal documents -- many don't speak English, and won't go to authorities if preyed upon. In the Latino community, warnings about the so-called "notarios publicos" have been sounded by many advocates. They say that these immigration assistants are often not qualified to give assistance. Mohammad Abdollahi, a member of DreamActivist.org in Washington, D.C., said his organization will use their presence on the Internet and social media to divulge critical information. According to the administration's figures, about 800,000 young immigrants could be impacted by the plan. Many have grown up in the U.S. and English is their first language. It's a group that has grown up in the information age. Still, Abdollahi said, they're not immune from scams or cutthroat lawyer fees. His organization plans to come up with average lawyer fees as a guideline. The last time the government undertook a major immigration program was the 1986 amnesty under President Ronald Reagan. Obama's program is quite smaller in scope and execution. Reagan's program promised legalization for illegal immigrants. It was divided by applications for people who had been farmworkers and those who weren't. Obama's plan would only provide work permits. Published: Mon, Jul 16, 2012