Posts Tagged ‘Asylum’
For East Bay immigrants, notary fraud is a common legal threat
Notary fraud is a common set-up in which notaries unlawfully give legal advice to immigrants, and in many cases, pretend to be immigration attorneys. The scam often involves the notary reviewing a victim’s case, choosing which legal documents are appropriate for their case, helping complete these documents, and submitting them to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Office—all acts only lawyers have the authority to do.
Immigration experts and advocates say that notary fraud is one of the biggest issues facing the undocumented community. “It is also a big problem in the East Bay and surrounding areas in Northern California,” said Barbara Pinto, an immigration senior staff attorney at the Centro Legal de la Raza, a legal service agency for immigrants’ rights, located in Oakland.
Read MoreRefugees reflect on past lives and new beginnings
Interactive Map: follow Jeremías’ journey as an unaccompanied minor, from his neighborhood in El Salvador, to resettlement in Oakland, here. In the shadow of the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris and the ongoing strife in Syria, America’s role in handling the refugee crisis has been catapulted to the forefront of political debates. Discussions about…
Read MoreCity council approves funding for asylum seekers, blocks Hampton Inn protesters
Oakland City Council approved a funding increase for legal support for unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in the U.S., authorized the creation of a “Director of Race and Equity” staffing position within the city government and received a report from the Oakland Police Department about funding for a gun tracing program.
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