‘Late Amnesty’ Scheme Bilks Illegal Aliens : Immigration: False interpretation of recent court decisions is behind the scam. The INS says that of 5,456 recent amnesty applications, only 243 qualified.

Immigrant rights advocates charged Thursday that thousands of Los Angeles-area illegal immigrants are being victimized by dishonest notary publics and others specializing in immigration work who claim the aliens qualify for a “late-amnesty” program that does not exist.

They said that aliens who do not qualify for legal U.S. residency under the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1986 have been given false hope of obtaining amnesty by unscrupulous persons who charge up to $2,000 to handle an application.

Many of the applications are rejected by the INS because of the use of blatantly fraudulent documents, the advocates said.

“The level of fraud has reached alarming proportions,” said Cesar Noriega, an attorney with One Stop Immigration and Educational Center in Boyle Heights. “I mean, we’re talking about thousands and thousands of (victimized) people.”

At a news conference, the advocates said that problems stemming from the purported late-amnesty scam have grown common in the last six months and aliens should be wary of anyone who claims he can easily process an application at this time for the legalization program.

Under the landmark amnesty law, illegals who lived in this country since before Jan. 1, 1982, qualified for legal U.S. residency. An estimated 3.1 million aliens nationwide--with a third of them in greater Los Angeles--signed up during the one-year application period that ended May 4, 1988.

But two civil rights organizations, the League of United Latin American Citizens and Catholic Social Services, filed suit alleging that the Immigration and Naturalization Service excluded some applicants because they temporarily left the country during the sign-up period.

A federal judge last year ordered the INS to accept applications by those aliens. There are no firm figures on the number of aliens affected, but INS officials and some civil rights leaders have put the number anywhere from 50,000 to 250,000.

Confusion over who might qualify as a result of the two lawsuits has spawned a deluge of advertising, principally aimed at the Spanish-language community, that promises spurious amnistia tardia-- late amnesty.

The effect has been startling, INS officials said.

They said that of the 5,456 applications handled in Los Angeles last month because of the two lawsuits, only 243 qualified for amnesty. The rest were rejected because the aliens did not qualify or used false documents, said Robert Moschorak, the INS’ district director in Los Angeles.

The speakers at Thursday’s news conference said such advertisements and misinformation have dashed the hopes of people who could be subject to deportation.

Take the case of Beatriz Guillermo. She said she paid $2,300 to Yancy Hawkins, a paralegal in East Los Angeles, who told her he could help her obtain legal U.S. residency. Guillermo said she never questioned the work of Hawkins. Nor did she review the paperwork he prepared.

Later, she learned that her request for political asylum and “late amnesty” were rejected because of insufficient documents. Guillermo said she never intended to ask for political asylum.

Authorities said her request for amnesty was undermined by false documents.

“I should have asked some questions,” she concluded.

Hawkins was convicted last month by a federal court jury in Los Angeles of conspiracy for his involvement in the preparation of false documents for the “late amnesty” program. He faces up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000, said the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Atty. Matthew Frank.