The Brief

Alexandra Lozano Kennedy — a former immigration attorney who made wide use of social media and Latino religious iconography to attract clientele — had offices across the U.S., including one in the city of Commerce in Southeast L.A.

Lozano Kennedy was licensed by the Washington State Bar Association, which enabled her to represent clients nationwide. In May, she resigned in lieu of discipline for misconduct and is permanently barred from practicing law in that state. As of June 2026, she is also suspended from practicing before the Department of Homeland Security, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; immigration courts; and the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Lozano Kennedy, who had tens of thousands of clients, is accused of falsifying stories of trafficking and abuse without her clients’ knowledge, according to lawsuits and immigrant advocates.

At her office in Los Angeles County, clients were met with a large image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in the reception area, flanked by flowers and votive candles, much like a scene inside a local Catholic church. This holy image was also on business cards distributed at the locale. Lozano Kennedy’s use of this iconography as a business strategy harmed community members, said M. Lucero Ortiz, supervising attorney at Loyola Law School’s Immigrant Justice Clinic.

“A lot of them are questioning their own faith," Ortiz said.

“Her fraud really only had a shelf life of about five to six years, because that's how long these cases take to be processed,” Ortiz added.

The clinic she supervises is using social media to help Lozano Kennedy’s former clients navigate the fallout amid the Trump administration’s ongoing mass deportation campaign.

Lozano Kennedy billed herself as a miracle worker, Ortiz said. The work permits clients received as their applications made their way through the immigration process bolstered this belief.

"Clients would think: ‘Oh, my gosh! Everybody else told me that my case was too complex, but this woman got me a work permit in six to nine months,’" Ortiz said. “But what they didn't know is that, five years later, that case would be denied. And they would be in removal proceedings.”

What is Lozano Kennedy accused of?  

According to the Washington State Bar Association, Lozano Kennedy's alleged misconduct includes:

• directing staff to use a script that contained false and/or misleading information when communicating with prospective clients
• filing applications for immigration benefits with USCIS when she knew the clients were ineligible for those benefits
• using nonlawyers to perform legal functions on behalf of clients, and/or delegating legal functions to non-lawyer staff, such as performing client consultations and providing legal advice 

Find a full list of her alleged misconduct here. Lozano Kennedy has denied any wrongdoing.

What do advocates recommend?   

If you were represented by Lozano Kennedy and have petitions or applications pending before USCIS, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and Loyola Law School’s Immigrant Justice Clinic have provided guidance for former clients. The latter recommends former clients take the following steps:

• Open an account online at my.uscis.gov. This allows people with pending immigration cases to manage and track their status in real time, including filing applications, receiving digital notices, uploading evidence and communicating securely with USCIS officers.
  
• Submit a change of address (USCIS Form AR-11) request. Be sure to file online and mail the request.
  
  • Cases with a receipt number starting with EAC should mail the request to the Vermont Service Center, USCIS Service Center Operations, Attn: Humanitarian Division, 38 River Rd., Essex Junction, VT 05479-0001.
  • Cases with a receipt number starting with LIN, should mail the request forms to the Nebraska Service Center, USCIS Service Center Operations, P.O. Box 87918, Lincoln, NE 68501-7918.
• Send USCIS a revocation of legal representation letter expressing that you no longer want the attorney of record to represent you and that you will be representing yourself (pro se) while you hire another attorney.
  
• Request a copy of your case file online at USCIS FOIA and through email from Luz Legal.
  
• Check your case status at USCIS and immigration court.
  
• Submit a request to the victims’ compensation fund with the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA).
  
• After you receive a copy of your case file, consult a licensed and experienced attorney about the strategy in your case.

Ortiz, the supervising attorney at the clinic, stressed that these are all steps community members can take for themselves, without the help of an attorney. You can find details for each step here.

The Immigrant Justice Clinic also addressed these frequently asked questions:

• Should all of Lozano Kennedy’s former clients withdraw their pending USCIS application?
  
  • No, if a pending case is withdrawn, it can lead to a notice to appear (NTA)/deportation process. Consult with a licensed and experienced attorney before making any decision regarding your case.
• Are all former clients eligible to join the two pending civil lawsuits against Lozano Kennedy?
  
  • No, not all former clients will be able to join the pending lawsuits.
  • To learn more, former clients can share their contact information and a summary of their case online at https://lozanocivilaction.com/#register
  • In California, the statute of limitations for civil fraud claims is three years.
  • A civil lawsuit will not address or fix an individual’s pending immigration case.
    

State and local lawmakers are joining immigrant rights groups in urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a bill that would bar California law enforcement from moonlighting for ICE.

Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, who represents Angelenos from South L.A. to Mar Vista, introduced AB 1537 in January. If implemented, the bill would ban California police, sheriffs and other law enforcement from taking on second jobs that involve “arresting, detaining, transporting, or deporting” people.

The bill has made its way through the state legislature and is now on the governor’s desk. Newsom has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto it.

At a press conference outside L.A. City Hall on Wednesday, José Madera, who directs the Pasadena Job Center, pointed to multiple deaths involving federal immigration agents in recent months — from Minneapolis to Houston — and to a recent shooting in Austin. “We don't need our local police to be part of that violence,” he said.

“ICE is a lawless, rogue agency that is terrorizing our communities, separating our families and kidnapping our neighbors,” said Bruno Huizar, supervising policy manager at the California Immigrant Policy Center. “Governor Newsom must sign AB 1537 into law to protect Californians.”

L.A. City councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, whose own parents were undocumented, said it pained him to see immigrant parents go to work and to church in fear of being separated from their children.

“If you’re a public servant, you should be serving the public — not helping ICE tear families apart,” he added in a follow-up email statement.

The bill, dubbed “No side jobs for ICE” by its proponents, would also require officers to report secondary employment offers relating to immigration to their employers.

“If a law enforcement agent gets a conditional offer from an immigration enforcement agency, that will be part of their employment records. And that will be subject to a public records act request,” said Shiu-Ming Cheer, a licensed attorney at the California Immigration Policy Center. “This is aimed at bringing transparency, so that we know how many officers are actually getting offers to work as an ICE agent or a Border Patrol agent.”

The Peace Officers Research Association of California, which represents officers across the state, has spoken out against the bill, arguing that “policies like this don’t improve public safety.” The Los Angeles Police Protective League did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

The bill is part of a growing effort to bar local law enforcement from engaging in the ongoing mass deportation effort. The L.A. City Council approved a motion in March, barring city employees from holding second jobs with federal immigration enforcement agencies.

In Santa Ana, the City Council recently adopted a policy that prohibits employees from obtaining outside work that involves federal immigration enforcement activities.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill aimed at protecting children who are abused.

The law, which went into effect this week, is named “Gabriel’s Law,” after Gabriel Fernandez — an 8-year-old boy in Palmdale who died in 2013 after being tortured and abused by his mother and her boyfriend.

“It devastated the community. Still has,” said State Assemblymember Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale), who worked on legislation related to Gabriel’s case for years. “It hasn't gone away, right? It’s something we still acknowledge.”

Since Fernandez’s death, the Antelope Valley has seen a number of high-profile child deaths at the hands of their parents.

The new law requires social workers to make sure a child gets emergency medical care when needed, and it makes it easier to prosecute social workers who knowingly falsify records.

Officials said there had been warning signs about Fernandez’s abuse, but social workers with the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services failed to follow up on them. The high-profile case prompted internal reforms in the agency.

What happened to Gabriel

Gabriel died in May 2013, after months of abuse from his mother and her boyfriend. He was found with a number of injuries, including a fractured skull, broken ribs and BB pellets lodged in his body. His mother and her boyfriend were both sentenced.

A teacher had reported signs of abuse to the county, but social workers did not remove him from the home. Then they ended the investigation. Prosecutors charged the social workers with child abuse, but the charges were later dismissed.

“He was literally tortured. And there were many, many, many documented events, and there are many encounters that he had with people that lacked follow-up,” Lackey said.

What does the law change?

Before this week, the law said that social workers may authorize care if a child needs immediate emergency care, but did not require it. Gabriel’s law requires a social worker to secure medical care for a child.

“ They call for an ambulance or escort the child to an emergency room— make sure a physician has the opportunity to provide some level of remedy and documentation of the injury,” Lackey said.

It also clarifies the law so that social workers who are guilty of falsifying or destroying public records can be imprisoned or fined.

Why did the law take so long to change?

Lackey’s previous legislative efforts related to Fernandez’s case failed over the years. He introduced at least five different pieces of legislation that failed to advance.

“I'm not even saying that I blame the pushback and the concern, because if you're too aggressive, there's a tendency to accuse people of wrongdoing when they are not guilty of wrongdoing, so we wanted to make sure that the balance was reasonable,” he said.

Lackey terms out this year. “We're trying to do something as a community to not only pay tribute to [Gabriel], but to prevent it from reoccurring,” he said.

The Los Angeles Fire Department has completed its investigation into the cause of the Lineage warehouse fire in Boyle Heights but was unable to determine what caused it. 

In a press release, LAFD said the June 17 fire was caused by an “electrical event” that occurred on the roof of the building, “adjacent to a section of solar panels.” Despite a “comprehensive investigation,” the department could not determine what caused the electrical event.

“The Department’s thoughts remain with all those impacted by this deeply tragic incident,” Arson and Fire Investigation Chief Thomas Raymond said in a release.

In response to the inconclusive investigation, District 14 Councilmember Ysabel Jurado said, “LAFD’s finding that the cause remains undetermined does nothing to alleviate what Boyle Heights residents have endured and are still carrying: months of health concerns and disruption, along with unanswered questions about whether this site can safely operate again.”

“The fact that we still cannot explain how this catastrophe began is yet another reason I will continue opposing any permits to rebuild this facility,” Jurado said.

Recently, the LA City Council voted to withhold rebuilding permits for the Lineage warehouse until after the Los Angeles Fire Department completed its investigation. Earlier this month, Lineage Chief Executive Officer Greg Lehmkuhl told Boyle Heights Beat and The LA Local that the company had not decided whether to rebuild, saying, “We’re still focused on holding the right people accountable here and making sure that we’re continuing to support the community.”

The CEO’s comments came after Lineage sued solar power provider Altus Power, Inc. and its contractor, blaming them for the fire. Altus Power and its contractor dispute those claims.

In a statement following the completed investigation, Lineage said, “Today’s report from the Los Angeles Fire Department validates what we have known all along: This was a solar fire.”

The fire and subsequent cleanup of millions of pounds of rotting food caused a flood of issues for residents living in Boyle Heights, East LA and surrounding communities, including an infestation of flies and pests, nausea and headaches, higher utility bills and other health concerns. 

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Boyle Heights Beat senior reporter Alejandra Molina and LA Local reporter Christopher Damien contributed to this report.

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