The following blog was written by Rodolfo Estrada, Esq., the Executive Director of the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights, a community-based nonprofit in my 15th Congressional district.

On June 11, the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights (NMCIR) will attend The Rangel Immigration Fair at the Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial & Educational Center to provide legal information to immigrants who live in New York’s 15th Congressional District. As Congressman Rangel points out, the 15th District is a “community built on a number of ethnicities and nationalities…[with a] diverse mix of immigrants”. 

NMCIR sees this diversity daily at our office located on 182nd Street, in the heart of Washington Heights. Recently, we surveyed 200 of our clients and found that over 95% of them are Spanish-speaking immigrants who hail from countries such as the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico. However, while the vast majority of the individuals we serve are from Latin America and the Caribbean, we are also seeing a growing population from various parts of Africa.

NMCIR is proud to participate in the Rangel Immigration Fair because it allows us to meet individuals in our neighborhood who might benefit from our work, which includes immigration legal services, classes, and organizing/ Know Your Rights work around issues such as Secure Communities. Indeed, we are proud to provide legal services to approximately 6,000 families a year and teach hundreds of students English and Civics (in preparation for their citizenship exam).

Of course, we always try to reach more community members by partnering with elected officials such as Congressman Rangel to participate in community-focused events. Many of our clients and countless immigrants across New York City face many obstacles as they build their lives in New York. Some of the most frequent problems we see deal with immigration fraud caused by individuals and businesses that are not authorized to practice law. For a price, these “notarios” or immigration consultants will often promise an immigration service or remedy that individuals may not qualify for or may not exist. Two of the most common schemes involve a client applying for “amnesty” or getting a visa by paying hundreds or thousands of dollars in fraudulent “immigration fees”.  These unauthorized practitioners of law also develop schemes to charge clients for forms, information, and application filings that may be free elsewhere. These schemes are especially harmful to our clients since 48% are unemployed and of those who are employed 70% make less than $15,000 a year.

Recently, NMCIR saw a client who was charged $100 to file a fee waiver application with her citizenship application. Unbeknownst to the client, fee waivers are free to file. Worst of all, the fee waiver was filled out incorrectly – the business didn’t follow the instructions on the forms ¬– and the application was rejected by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Apart from losing hard earned money, our client is now also facing unnecessary delay in her goal of becoming a U.S. Citizen and voter because she has to re-file her application.

Such exploitative cases remind us of why it’s so important for community organizations to come together to help immigrants and others learn about legitimate services in the community. As an organization that has been serving District 15th for 30 years, we know that good advice for immigrants can mean the difference between staying in the country legally or getting lost in the immigration system, sometimes even facing deportation.