Even viewed in its best light, AB 1159 interferes with the attorney-client relationship and redundantly ‘prohibits’ conduct that is already condemned as unethical under the State Bar rules and the California Code of Professional Responsibility.
In anticipation of the US Congress passing some sort of Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) later this year, the California State Legislature and the California State Bar have put forth AB 1159, the Immigration Reform Act, up for consideration this month.
With the ostensible intention of curtailing fraud perpetrated on members of immigrant communities seeking any type of “legalization benefits” or what the US Senate called “Registered Provisional Immigrant” status in its recently passed immigration reform bill, AB 1159 fails to identify the source of most immigration fraud in the US and unduly burdens honest attorneys attempting to practice law in accordance with legal and ethical standards. With only a few weeks left before the California State legislature takes up a full vote on the bill, the proposal has sparked a furious backlash from immigrant advocacy groups such as the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) which has already exacted some concessions from the State Bar and drafters of the Bill.
Immigrant communities have long fallen victim to unscrupulous consultants, promising to deliver benefits and even holding themselves out as attorneys to extract exorbitant fees for less than broken promises. In the Latino communities, “notarios” as they are called, have benefitted in their unauthorized practice of law due to confusion over their actual status and legal ability to practice law, since “notarios publicos” are often the equivalent of licensed attorneys in many Latin American countries. Seeking to avert a major outbreak of fraud if and when the US Congress passes an immigration Reform package akin to that seen during the “mortgage modification” bull rush in which thousands of unsuspecting homeowners were duped by fraudsters purporting to help them keep their homes and modify existing loans, the California State Bar irresponsibly put forth AB 1159.
Relying on unsubstantiated “statistics” AB 1159 imposes enormous restrictions on Immigration Attorneys, such as requiring each immigration attorney to post $100,000.00 bond, which does nothing to curtail fraudulent practices by notarios and would cause the cost of legitimate legal representation to seek “cheaper” assistance from the very notarios who are responsible for the bulk of the immigration fraud about which the State Bar is concerned. Even viewed in its best light, AB 1159 interferes with the attorney-client relationship and redundantly “prohibits” conduct that is already condemned as unethical under the State Bar rules and the California Code of Professional Responsibility. The State legislature, while recognizing that immigration fraud is an important issue, has simply misplaced its efforts on the wrong parties.
While AILA and other advocacy groups continue to urge the California State Bar to reexamine its evidence in support of and purpose in drafting AB 1159, other States and at least one US Congressman have proposed new legislation properly targeting notarios as the perpetrators of immigration fraud and seeking to curtail their illegal activities before CIR is passed. Just last week, Congressman Bill Foster (IL-11) and Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-21) introduced the Protecting Immigrants from Legal Exploitation Act to shield immigrants from fraudulent and unethical legal representation. The legislation outlines specific penalties for “notarios” who intentionally mislead immigrants by providing fraudulent services and would provide immigrants with the opportunity to resubmit any application materials improperly filed by fraudulent attorneys. Meanwhile, the State of New York is considering a bill to protect immigrant communities from fraudulent “immigration assistance providers.”
The debate is far from over, but the California State bar has been placed on notice that its overreaching and misplaced attempt to micromanage attorney-client relationships, while ignoring notarios, who are the source of most immigration fraud in the US. While the specter of litigation to enjoin the bar from enforcing AB 1159 looms, hopefully the State Legislature will take note of much more reasonable pending efforts to curb immigration fraud in the US Congress and other States and follow suit.
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Daniel P. Hanlon is a California State Bar Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law and a principal of Hanlon Law Group, PC, located at 225 S. Lake Ave., 11th Floor in Pasadena, California; Tel. No. (626) 585-8005. Hanlon Law Group, PC is a “full-service Immigration Law firm.” E-mail: [email protected] and www.hanlonlawgroup.com.
