Group to Combat Amnesty Law Scams

Illegal aliens who believe that they have been victimized by rip-off artists or dishonest immigration professionals will be able to file formal complaints through a new committee of church and community activists, the group’s leaders announced.

The committee will distribute a form for use by illegal aliens who run into such problems while seeking professional help in applying for amnesty under the new immigration law, Los Angeles Archbishop Roger Mahony, chairman of the committee, said at a City Hall press conference Thursday.

“If an undocumented person or family has encountered an unscrupulous person . . . who is trying to take advantage of their situation, either through false promises or excessive costs or charges,” the complaint forms can be used to bring the problem “directly to the city attorney’s office for processing and hopefully for prosecution,” Mahony said.

The new community group, composed largely of Latino and Asian-American leaders, was established to serve as a liaison between illegal aliens and a multiagency immigration task force organized in February by Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn.

The role of the task force, made up of representatives of city, county, state and federal agencies, is “to crack down on any con artists and unscrupulous professionals out for a quick buck at the expense of people seeking to go through the amnesty process,” Hahn said.