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D.A. Bragg: Immigration Lawyer Sentenced to State Prison
D.A. Bragg: Immigration Lawyer Sentenced to 1-3 Years in State Prison
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., on August 3, announced the sentencing of New York City-based immigration lawyer, CARLOS MORENO, 61, for unlicensed practice of law, through which he collected thousands of dollars in legal fees from undocumented immigrants. Between September 2017 – when Moreno was suspended from the bar –and late September 2018, Moreno took on new clients, practiced law, and gave legal advice to scores of undocumented immigrants. In some instances, even predating his suspension, MORENO defrauded clients by falsely claiming that undocumented immigrants who have resided in the United States for over a decade could secure legal status, a fraud known as the “10-Year Green Card Scam.” As a result, some of his clients were unknowingly placed at risk of removal from the U.S. MORENO pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court to Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree and Practice of Law by an Attorney who has been Disbarred, Suspended, or Convicted of a Felony. He was sentenced to 1-3 years in state prison. “These New Yorkers sought legal services from Mr. Moreno in order to apply for permanent residency in the place they already call home. Instead, he took their fees and placed them in situations that put them at risk of deportation,” said District Attorney Bragg. “If you believe you or someone you know has been a victim of this type of fraud, we urge you to call our office’s Immigrant Affairs Unit hotline at (212) 335-3600. Interpreters are available to assist nonnative English speakers and we encourage all to reach out regardless of immigration status.” As admitted in the defendant’s guilty plea, from August 2015 to September 2018, MORENO misled two clients into believing that he, as their attorney, could submit an application for permanent residency based on their 10 years of living in the United States. In both cases, he submitted an asylum application without their knowledge or consent. MORENO failed to inform these clients that the meritless asylum application that he submitted would be rejected and would trigger removal proceedings. Despite being suspended from practicing law in 2017, MORENO continued to act as an attorney for clients. One client hired him in August 2015 and paid approximately $3,100 in fees. In May 2018, more than a year after his suspension, he continued to represent this client without informing him that he was not permitted to practice law. On May 30, 2018, he met with this client in his Manhattan office, gave him legal advice, and misrepresented the status of the client’s immigration case. The second client hired MORENO as her attorney in September 2017 – six months after he was suspended – and paid him $3,500 in legal fees. In total, MORENO received over $140,000 in legal fees from multiple clients.
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What kind of scams target members of immigrant communities?
Recent immigrants seeking residency or citizenship are often preyed upon by criminals who steal from them through a variety of schemes. For example, deceitful attorneys or individuals purporting to be attorneys may demand sums of money in exchange for services they do not intend to provide or are not licensed to provide.
Manhattan DA Bragg Photo courtesy: Manhattan DA’s Office
Immigration Fraud Recent immigrants seeking residency or citizenship are often preyed upon by criminals who steal from them through a variety of schemes. The District Attorney offices of all the Ciy’s boroughs offers assistance to immigrants regradless of their immigration status. It is also advised that you seek the advise of different attorneys, in particular, one that is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). Brian Figeroux, Esq of the Law Firm of Figeroux & Associates has been a member of AILA for over 20 years. Visit www.askthelawyer.us or call 855768-8845 for a consultation.l
Anti-immigrant Republican Extremism Positions Itself and Intensifies
BY MARIBEL HASTINGS & DAVID TORRES AMERICA’S VOICE
Whether through state laws, city ordinances, executive orders, or federal measures, if antiimmigrant Republicans have anything in common it’s that they are operating from the same, old playbook: promoting— and, oftentimes, implementing—measures that pretend to combat undocumented immigration but end up inflicting damage on minority communities. Those targeted are often Hispanics, especially through the use of racial profiling and the violation of civil rights. It’s an image that they created of themselves and which they cannot fight, not even the most moderate conservatives, since their silence in the face of the subjugation of the political sect that has formed in response to former President Donald Trump has forever harmed their principles and values. If anything remains from all that, no one knows because they have permitted a racist and anti-immigrant movement to keep their party hostage to this day, out of convenience. Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas who issued an executive order authorizing the Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety to detain undocumented immigrants and return them to the border—based on the argument that the administration of Joe Biden has shirked its federal responsibility to control the borders—provides the most recent example. Additionally, the socalled Operation Lone Star, another joint mission between the Texas Department of Public Safety and the state’s National Guard began in March 2021, supposedly to control undocumented immigration and illegal drug trafficking. This situation is proof that, from their perspective on race and power, the governor is willing to undermine federal law, in frank defiance of a democratic government he attacks every other day, in order to position itself before potential voters, scarcely months before the next election. Basically, in addition to the fact that these measures usurp the federal role of approving and enforcing immigration laws, and are purely political games to maintain the support of voters who make up their base, these initiatives are also the perfect recipe for the use of racial profiling. Operation Lone Star, for example, which has been allocated some $4 billion from state coffers and engaged 10,000 members of the National Guard, does not wind up “protecting” the border, but criminalizing immigrants in order to deport them in an expedited fashion, alleging that there is supposedly an “invasion,” despite the fact that many are coming, paradoxically, to find protection in the United States. With these draconian measures, someone who looks Hispanic—whether they are a citizen, often going back generations in this country, especially in states like Texas or Arizona, which used to be Mexican territory—is in imminent danger; permanent residents, temporary visa holders, and undocumented people are also at risk. No one carries their passport or green card pinned to their forehead. Therefore, it’s expected that the National Guard soldiers and police will rely on the use of racial profiling. And that’s not the only issue: add in serious violations of civil rights and irreparable harm to the state’s economy. But those damaging consequences aren’t of importance to Republicans like Abbott, since they prefer to use immigrants as sacrificial scapegoats, like always, for their political advantage at election time. Who can forget the effects of two laws, SB 1070 in Arizona and HB 56 in Alabama? America’s Voice was in both states reporting firsthand about the effect of these laws on the Hispanic population. Not only did they sow fear in the undocumented immigrant community, but among Latinos in general; citizens who feared being detained at any moment, solely because of the color of their skin; or, in other cases, for speaking English with an accent. Not to mention the damage both measures had on the states’ economies. In Alabama, for example, many crops were lost because undocumented people who worked in the fields left, for fear of being detained. Local businesses lost the customers who frequented them and the state itself lost out on sales taxes, having fewer consumers. It’s that politicians like Abbott exploit the immigration issue for political reasons without thinking about or, worse still, understanding the impact that these measures can have on Hispanics who are voters and perhaps even voted for him— without thinking about the damage that can be inflicted on their own economy or state’s image. This matters so little that they even resort to other, more sinister strategies— as if the self-inflicted damage was not already enough. For example, Republicans have invited the prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, to participate in the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas this week, knowing the neo-Nazi tint of this European politician’s ideas. Last month, Orban said: “There is a world in which European peoples are mixed together with those arriving from outside Europe. Now that is a mixed-race world. And there is our world, where people from within Europe mix with one another… This is why we have always fought: we are willing to mix with one another, but we don’t want to become peoples of mixed-race.” What is the significance of bringing such a xenophobic and racist person to the United States at the very moment an epic battle is being waged to eradicate anti-immigrant sentiment from this country? Obviously it is both a cynical and dangerous provocation, with incalculable consequences, about which Republicans simply do not care. Moreover, they also do not care that their racist rhetoric and claims of an “invasion” have lethal consequences such as the El Paso, Texas massacre, which is coming up on its third anniversary August 3, and where the white supremacist Patrick Crusius shot 23 people in a Walmart store, motivated by the hate speech, intolerance, and fanaticism that intensified against minorities, often Latino minorities, during Donald Trump’s presidency. When it comes to Abbott’s executive order, Democrats and activists in Texas have denounced the initiative’s danger and, in the case of Operation Lone Star, the daily Texas Tribune and ProPublica reported that according to state records, the Department of Justice will be investigating potential civil rights violations. SB 1070 was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2012, and HB 56 was blocked by lawsuits, until a settlement was negotiated in 2013 between the state, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and civil rights groups who sued, arguing the law’s unconstitutionality. Alabama permanently blocked the law’s most onerous provisions. But their footprint, as nasty as it is prejudicial, will remain in perpetuity, like a dress rehearsal for the future that we reached this century, irremediably. Republican extremism has intensified and the party has continued to take governorships and state assemblies that are fertile ground for this type of measure, as we see in Texas. Worse still, the midterm elections are near, where the potential exists for the Republicans to re-take control of one or both chambers of Congress. And it’s expected that they will push a migration agenda as extremist as the figures who control the Republican Party.l
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Know Your Rights with ICE
If approached by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents, you have rights! What can I do if ICE is at my door?
• You do not have to immediately open the door for ICE and you do not have to speak to ICE. • From behind the closed door, you may ask them who they are and to show their badge, ID or business card through the window or peephole or to pass it under the closed door. • You can ask if they have a judicial warrant:
If they say No, you do not have to let them in. You may say,
If they say Yes, you can ask them to slide it under the door. To know if it is a judicial warrant, look to see who signed the warrant. A judicial warrant is a warrant from a court, signed by a judge. For example, judge signatures may have “Honorable/Hon.” “Judge” “Justice” or “Magistrate” in front of them.
• In an emergency, such as a threat to public safety or a threat to someone’s life, ICE can come in without asking your permission. If this happens, you still do not have to speak to ICE. • If ICE is looking for someone, you do not need to speak. If you choose to speak, you can ask ICE to leave contact information. While you do not need to tell ICE where the person is located, providing false information puts you at risk.
What can I do if ICE is inside my home?
• If ICE enters your home without your permission, you can tell them clearly: “I do not consent to you being in my home. Please leave.” Saying this may not always stop them, but it may help any future legal case. • If ICE starts to search rooms or items in your home, you can tell them, “I do not consent to your search.” You can continue to repeat this if they continue to search without consent. • You can tell them if there are children or other vulnerable residents in your home.
What can I do if ICE stops me on the street or in public?
• Before you say anything, you can ask, “Am I free to go?”
If they say Yes: you can say,
“I don’t want to answer your questions”
If they say No: you can say,
If ICE agents try to search your pockets or belongings, you can say,
If they search you anyway, you cannot physically stop them, but clearly saying it may be important in any future legal case.
This fact sheet gives only general information. It is not legal advice. Consult an attorney for legal advice. English Call 855-768-8845 for an Immigration Consultation
