Task Force Targets Con Artists Selling Bogus Aid to Aliens

County officials, concerned about unscrupulous “counselors” offering phony legal aid and other bogus help to immigrants, said Thursday that they have formed a task force to crack down on scam artists preying on people seeking citizenship.

Fraudulent immigration help is of particular concern locally, said Rusty Kennedy, director of the Orange County Human Relations Commission, because 184,000 immigrants in the county have applied for permanent U.S. residency under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

“The Immigration Reform Act is wonderful,” county Supervisor Roger R. Stanton said in a statement prepared for the county unit’s first meeting today. “Unfortunately, it also becomes an opportunity for the unscrupulous to take advantage of this large population, which needs educational and legal assistance.

Exploitation Seen

“Too frequently, instead of critical needed assistance, our newest residents are being exploited.”

Kennedy said the unit will include representatives of the county district attorney’s office, the state attorney general’s office, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and local police agencies.

The Orange County Bar Assn., the Orange County Human Relations Commission and various community groups will also participate, noted Barbara Brown, executive assistant to Stanton.

In March, government officials issued a warning about men describing themselves as government officials going door to door in Latino neighborhoods of the county and offering guaranteed seats in nonexistent English and civics classes, which are required for permanent residency status, in exchange for deposits ranging from $10 to $50.

Apparently, residents in Anaheim, Stanton and Santa Ana were victimized by the scam.

Fraudulent Counselors

Kennedy said there is also concern about fraudulent immigration counselors charging outrageous amounts of money to shepherd applications through the legal maze but never completing the work.

Attorney Olivia T. Ibarra, head of the immigration section of the Bar Assn., said: “There is a great shortage of agencies that provide low-cost legal services to the immigrant population.”

Partly as a result, many people are practicing law without licenses in the county, with people being charged too much, not getting the service paid for at all or having it performed incompetently, Ibarra said.