New USCIS initiative

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

National Initiative to Combat Immigration Services Scams

DHS, DOJ and FTC Collaborate with State and Local Partners in Unprecedented Effort

Released June 9, 2011

WASHINGTON—The U.S. government unveiled today a multi-agency, nationwide initiative to combat immigration services scams. The Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are leading this historic effort.

This initiative targets immigration scams involving the unauthorized practice of immigration law (UPIL), which occurs when legal advice and/or representation regarding immigration matters is provided by an individual who is not an attorney or accredited representative.

“We are dedicated to protecting vulnerable immigrants from those who seek to exploit them,” said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas. “Through our sustained outreach, enforcement and education efforts, and our close collaboration with our federal, state, and local partners, we will provide the communities we serve with the help needed to combat this pernicious problem.”

For more information, go here:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=01083ffa91570310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

And here:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.e8b24a3cec33ca34c48bfc10526e0aa0/?vgnextoid=a4653ab7b8f3b210VgnVCM10000025e6a00aRCRD&vgnextchannel=b9563ab7b8f3b210VgnVCM10000025e6a00aRCRD

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

You started a similar topic back in April:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&section=findpost&pid=4626023

You seem to have a vested interest in this subject. Are you an immigration attorney or do you work for one? If not then I have a hard time understanding why you post about these advisories from USCIS. They're related to scams by immigration services. This is a DIY site. Most people here aren't using an immigration service, and when people post asking about immigration services the overwhelming consensus is save your money and do it yourself.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

I'm not an immigration attorney, no. I think you know that.

I have been a paralegal though. My boss served on the Ethics Committee for the WV State Bar. We like to do things by the book in our office.

Unauthorized Practice of Law was once a really hot topic on VJ. I think that was before your time.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I'm not an immigration attorney, no. I think you know that.

I have been a paralegal though. My boss served on the Ethics Committee for the WV State Bar. We like to do things by the book in our office.

Unauthorized Practice of Law was once a really hot topic on VJ. I think that was before your time.

Very well, that explains things quite succinctly. Your boss had a vested interest in creating and perpetuating a monopoly on any discussion of the law. I think you'd be hard pressed to make a case that anybody on VJ in engaged in UPL. With the exception of Marc Ellis, nobody on this site is masquerading as a lawyer nor profiting from the advise they give, though I realize that neither of those factors are required in some states. But heck, if you think there's a valid case to be made then I'm as good a target as anyone else because I quote the law as much as anyone else. Take your best shot!

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Look above. Look at the advertisements running across the top of the forum.

If you are looking for information about immigration, google spiders will bring ads to the top of the page for immigration services. Many are for immigration consultancies. As such, the USCIS initiative is relevant to readers of this board.

Edited September 19, 2011 by Rebecca Jo

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Look above. Look at the advertisements running across the top of the forum.

If you are looking for information about immigration, google spiders will bring ads to the top of the page for immigration services. Many are for immigration consultancies. As such, the USCIS initiative is relevant to readers of this board.

Google AdSense scans the content of the page and tries to post advertising that's relevant. Anyone can purchase advertising using AdSense. The operators of this site have no control over the ads that are displayed. If you go to the Vietnam regional forum then you'll see ads for life and car insurance in Vietnamese. Google AdSense also saves cookies on your system so that it knows what sites you've visited, and it will display ads relevant to your web browsing habits. I frequently see ads here on VJ for suppliers that sell materials for my home business. One time I looked up the specs for a Flip camcorder for a friend. For more than a month after that I saw ads on VJ for Flip camcorders. The ads displayed are frequently not from immigration service providers, and even the immigration related ads are often from competent and qualified immigration attorneys.

Anyone who has been using the internet for more than a few weeks will have encountered Google ads and have at least a rudimentary understanding of how they work. Your warning is equally relevant for any advertisement you see on VJ, or on any other site for that matter. Any advertiser could be waiting to scam people, and not only advertisers who are selling immigration services. In fact, the immigration scam artists are less likely to recruit victims on this site because there's a wealth of information here to educate the user and help them avoid being scammed.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Google ads can be blocked (if the Admin of a website so chooses).

http://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=21593

I get the impression you have some concern with my post. I don't understand what that could be. I do think the information is relevant to users of the forum, especially new users.

Edited to add that I note the Lead Moderator has posted a thread in Immigration News about the same topic.

Edited September 21, 2011 by Rebecca Jo

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Google ads can be blocked (if the Admin of a website so chooses).

http://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=21593

I get the impression you have some concern with my post. I don't understand what that could be. I do think the information is relevant to users of the forum, especially new users.

Edited to add that I note the Lead Moderator has posted a thread in Immigration News about the same topic.

If you see an ad from an immigration service which you believe is engaged in a scam then, by all means, notify the admins of this site and ask them to block the URL.

My concern is that you provide an excerpt from a press release and then provide no commentary to give any context to what you've posted. Without the proper context, people will draw conclusions. The press release in this case is regarding a crackdown on immigration service scams. The conclusion people are likely to draw is that you're implying that VJ is, in some way, an immigration service that might be engaged in a scam. As I said in my first post, most people who come to VJ are not using any immigration service. This is like telling the Buddhists that there are some Baptist preachers engaged in fraud (sorry if that offends any Buddhists or Baptists, but Buddhists are the closest thing to a "self help" religion I could think of).

If your intent was simply to call people's attention to the initiative by the federal government then you probably shouldn't have posted it in a sub-forum specifically for discussion, and "Immigration News" would have been the appropriate place to post it. However, since you seem to focus primarily on this one issue then I doubt your intention is to share general immigration news. In addition, Kathryn's post was timely, being only a few days after the entry on the USCIS blog. You posted on September 10th about an announcement that was released in early June. I naturally wondered why you were repeatedly whipping this same horse.