THE Los Angeles City Attorney’s office is taking steps to protect immigrants who may be affected by President Barack Obama’s executive order on immigration from scam artists.
“The president has taken executive action on an important opportunity to obtain temporary legal status for immigrants within this region,” said City Attorney Mike Feuer. “With that opportunity comes risk because there are some who would take advantage of the dreams of immigrants by defrauding them.”
On Saturday, Jan. 31, the City Attorney’s office will host a free community forum on immigration as part of an initiative to protect immigrants from scams that may arise from the president’s action.
“We are leading the charge to prevent that from happening. If scam artists perpetrate their schemes we will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,” Feuer said in a news release.
The forum will take place at Mount St. Mary’s College in South Los Angeles and will connect individuals with low cost or free immigration legal services. Among lawyers providing assistance will include those from the City Attorney’s office.
There will also be investigators from the County of Los Angeles Department of Consumer Affairs at the Saturday event so that individuals who may have already been scammed can go through an intake process and have their cases investigated.
There are currently more than 30 ongoing investigations.
Feuer highlighted that there are many organizations that will provide low to no cost assistance for immigration matters.
“So nobody needs to resort to services of people who resort to them unfairly,” Feuer said.
He also said another indicator of a scam is if anybody claims to have forms available for the president’s action, as the process has not yet been triggered.
“The citizenship process is complex and can be intimidating for most,” Brian Stiger, director of the County of Los Angeles Department of Consumer Affairs, said in a news release. “This makes it ripe for fraud as scam artists look for opportunities to take advantage of those in need of help.”
The City Attorney’s office is also making sure information about this plan is disseminated in multiple languages. Additionally, the community meetings have been set in locations accessible to immigrant groups in various regions, Feuer said.
Another forum will take place on Feb. 28 at the Van Nuys Civic Center.
Feuer said people should attend the forums to take advantage of the opportunity available through Obama’s executive action, while avoiding becoming victims of those looking to take advantage of the situation.
While government institutions and law enforcement may be of concern to immigrants from various countries, Feuer said his office wants to offer help.
“My office is here to protect you,” he said.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Midweek January 28-30, 2015 Sec. A pg.1)
