Notario fraud is a longstanding problem in immigrant communities. Advocates say it’s getting worse

The unauthorized practice of immigration law, known as notario fraud among Spanish speakers in the U.S., is a longstanding issue in immigrant communities.

But amid the Trump administration’s ongoing mass deportation effort, immigrants rights groups say heightened levels of fear and confusion are pushing more people into the hands of fraudsters. In their desperation for help, immigrants are spending thousands of dollars, only to be left with substandard assistance, meritless applications or no legal work at all.

Public Counsel, a nonprofit pro bono law firm headquartered in Los Angeles, recently published a white paper on the issue, geared at fellow immigration advocates and consumer advocates.

In it, the nonprofit underscores that an error on a case can lead to devastating results for immigrants and their families. These can range from the loss of immigration status, deportation, a permanent bar from entering the U.S. or prolonged detention at facilities with inhumane conditions.

Exploiting a cultural misunderstanding   

Advocates say newly arrived immigrants are at particular risk of fraud, as they are unfamiliar with the U.S. legal system and often unsure who is qualified to give them legal advice.

Public Counsel notes that the term notario público itself “provides a unique opportunity for deception.”

In many Latin American countries, notarios públicos are highly educated legal experts who have similar training and professional duties as lawyers. In contrast, a “notary public” in the U.S. is solely authorized to witness the signature of forms and may not provide legal advice or services. According to the nonprofit, notarios in the U.S. exploit this cultural misunderstanding.

Notarios, the nonprofit adds, typically advertise themselves as a more affordable option to licensed attorneys, falsely claiming that a lawyer is not necessary in an immigration case. Tax preparers, travel agents and even pastors have also been known to exploit vulnerable immigrant communities.

What do the schemes look like?

Kathleen Rivas, a supervising attorney at Public Counsel’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, described a common scheme: Immigrants who have a family member who's a U.S citizen or lawful permanent resident often approach notarios asking for support in filing a family petition, she said. Instead, notaries will submit an asylum application on their behalf — sometimes without that person’s knowledge.

When people have a pending asylum application, they receive a work permit, Rivas said. This can lead immigrants to believe things are going well; but if that asylum application gets denied, they could soon face a deportation order.

Martha, an immigrant from Mexico who is now being represented by Rivas, spent more than $14,000 trying to get help from a man who posed as an attorney. (Martha declined to share her last name with LAist, out of fear of reprisals.) Martha first reached out to the fraudster in 2023, heeding a relative’s recommendation. After she paid him, she said, the fraudster became less responsive. Years passed. She begged for updates. He asked for more money.

Then, Donald Trump was re-elected, and federal agents began detaining immigrants in court. With her heart in her mouth, Martha attended a mandatory ICE check-in without the support of her supposed lawyer. A friend recommended Martha ask the man she’d hired for his license number.

“He never gave it to me, ever,” she said. Martha later learned that he’d filed an asylum application on her behalf, despite her objections.

What’s being done

Public Counsel is calling on state lawmakers and local governments to allocate more resources to investigate and bring enforcement actions against illegal immigration consultants.

The nonprofit also recommends updating the state’s Immigration Consultants Act, first enacted in 1986.

According to Rivas, California enacted this law in response to a huge increase in need for immigration help. But, she underscored, immigration consultants are meant to have a very limited role in individual cases. These duties include helping people fill out forms, as well as translating and gathering documents.

Immigrant consultants “are absolutely not supposed to be giving legal advice or tell people what they qualify for or what they should apply for,” Rivas said. “But, often, it is these people that are engaging in fraud, and they often go far outside the bounds of their limited scope.”

In her view, the state needs to “dramatically [raise] the bar of who can operate as an immigration consultant” by requiring “actual training, oversight, accountability [and] supervision from an attorney” — or repeal the law altogether.