Council Member Julie Gained. Courtesy of NYC Council Media Unit/John McCarten.
July 2, 2025 By Shane O’Brien
The New York Metropolis Council has handed laws launched by Queens Council Member Julie Gained and Brooklyn Council Member Shahana Hanif, aiming to fight immigration authorized providers fraud, whereby predatory actors exploit the fears of immigrant communities by providing false guarantees of authorized providers.
Legislators stated the observe, often known as “notarial fraud,” can lead to victims paying 1000’s of {dollars} for authorized providers that always go away them worse off.
Advocates stated the “long-standing issue” has worsened significantly with the inflow of recent arrivals in New York Metropolis.
Intro 980A, launched by Gained, doubles penalties for “egregious violations” of town’s guidelines governing immigration help providers. Egregious violations for prohibited conduct can embody the unauthorized observe of regulation or threatening to report a buyer to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Gained stated she launched the laws after quite a few constituents contacted her workplace to tell her that that they had been victims of predatory immigration providers and scammed out of 1000’s of {dollars}.
The regulation additionally will increase fines for immigration help service suppliers that don’t adjust to relevant necessities, such because the requirement to execute a written contract with clients, the requirement to incorporate particular language in signage and commercials and the requirement to retain paperwork.
Below the brand new regulation, the civil penalty for offenses can be at the least $5,000 and not more than $10,000 for a primary violation, rising from $3,750 and $7,500, respectively. For every succeeding violation, the penalty can be a minimal of $10,000 and a most of $15,000.
For any violations associated to guaranteeing specific governmental actions on commercials, the civil penalties can be between $7,500 and $10,000 for a first-time violation and between $18,000 and $20,000 for any subsequent violation.
In accordance with the regulation, any immigration help service suppliers who promote providers should publish or embody with the commercial a legally required discover of the providers they don’t seem to be licensed to supply.
Gained stated the regulation would assist fight an increase in pretend attorneys and predatory suppliers.
“It is deplorable to overcharge and mislead desperate community members searching for a legal pathway to citizenship,” Gained stated in an announcement. “With the passage of Int. 980-A, fake lawyers and predatory providers will now receive double the civil penalties for serious violations of NYC’s laws for Immigration Assistance Services.”
Council Member Shehana Hanif. Courtesy of NYC Council Media Unit/John McCarten.
Hanif, in the meantime, launched Intro 205A, which would require the Division of Shopper and Employee Safety (DCWP), the Mayor’s Workplace of Immigrant Affairs, the Mayor’s Workplace of Ethnic and Group Media, and different applicable businesses to work collaboratively to coach immigrant communities about widespread immigration-related scams.
The training and outreach marketing campaign will likely be performed in all designated city-wide languages and momentary languages.
The marketing campaign may also embody steering on tips on how to establish and keep away from widespread fraudulent schemes, data on credible immigration authorized service suppliers, and tips on how to report fraud utilizing DCWP’s grievance mechanisms.
Hanif said that federal immigration insurance policies have created worry and anxiousness amongst New York’s immigrant communities, including that dangerous actors usually search to take advantage of that anxiousness. She stated information from the DCWP highlights that the issue has elevated considerably in recent times.
“The Trump administration’s anti-immigrant policies have generated anxiety and confusion among immigrant communities. Bad actors often exploit these vulnerabilities through fraudulent practices, charging high fees and sometimes even sabotaging ongoing immigration cases,” Hanif said.
Each Gained and Hanif said that the measures goal essentially the most vital legal guidelines handed within the US to focus on “notario fraud.”
“Today NYC is passing the most comprehensive and aggressive laws in the nation to protect immigrants from ‘notario fraud,’” Gained stated in an announcement Monday.
Council Member Shekar Krishnan, who co-sponsored each items of laws, stated the legal guidelines would have a huge effect on communities within the numerous immigrant neighborhoods of his district, together with Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and Woodside.
“This legislation will protect them from scammers, allow them to navigate the legal system more easily, and ensure they get quality legal assistance,” Krishnan stated in an announcement.
Council Member Sandra Ung, who additionally supported the laws, stated the legal guidelines would assist defend immigrant communities towards individuals who view heightened anxiousness as a possibility to take advantage of susceptible members of the neighborhood.
“They offer so-called immigration ‘services’ that are deceptive at best and outright fraudulent at worst, charging people thousands of dollars for promises they can’t keep and paperwork that won’t help,” Ung stated. “Regardless of immigration status, all New Yorkers deserve access to legal services that are trustworthy, transparent, and grounded in a real understanding of the law.”
Numerous immigration providers additionally praised the Council for passing each items of laws, together with Catholic Migration Companies, which offers a variety of providers to immigrants of all faiths.
Magdalena Barbosa, the group’s senior vice chairman and director of authorized providers, applauded the Council for passing the laws.
“The New York City Council understands that now, at a time of unprecedented fear and anxiety in immigrant communities, is the time to act to ensure immigrants understand the dangers of working with notarios and the importance of higher penalties to deter bad actors,” Barbosa stated.
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