No creas todo lo que lees

By Timothy Pratt

Tuesday, July 25, 2006 | 7:44 a.m.

A grinning young guy, using the Stars and Stripes the same way a beachgoer wraps a towel around his shoulders, certainly captures your eye in an El Mercadito newspaper ad.

"Don't wait until the last minute," the ad warns in Spanish, the words in red type to grab your attention.

The advertisement for Las Vegas Immigration Services on Eastern Avenue continues: "Get prepared to fix your legal situation with the new immigration reform."

Then, in black type, it assures: "We're ready to give you a payment plan and offer you all the help you need."

A second ad, for America Services on Charleston Boulevard, asks, "Are you ready for the new immigration law? Prepare your back taxes."

Yet another ad offers English classes from a man called "Maestro Eddie."

"It's the law!" the maestro's ad orchestrates.

No, it isn't. And there is neither a "new immigration law" nor "new immigration reform."

Millions marched down America's streets earlier this year seeking reform, a new law or both, but the U.S. House and Senate remain deeply divided over dueling bills. Both chambers are holding hearings on the issue around the country, and there's no compromise in sight, leading many analysts to offer pessimistic forecasts about any law passing soon, particularly as the midterm election draws near.

People working at what are called "multiservice" offices in the Hispanic community say their ads in valley Spanish-language publications are "marketing" or "bait" for bringing customers in the door. Then they tell those customers that, although there's no law, there are things illegal immigrants can do to get ready for any possible pathways to legalization. The advice is free, they say, and it builds goodwill so that potential customers will come back later or seek some other service they offer.

Local immigration experts see it differently.

Some call it a scam.

"It's highway robbery," immigration attorney Kathia Pereira said of the offices charging immigrants to prepare for a future law.

Pereira said more than two dozen people had come to her office in recent months with complaints about having paid up to $1,000 to "get put on a list so that they're ready for any amnesty or changes in the law."

They're told to pay back taxes and gather proof of residency, employment and other evidence of their lives in the United States. Employees at several of the offices that took out ads say the baseline requirement under a new law will be five years of U.S. residency.

Pereira said she couldn't help those who came to her other than explain that no one knows what a new law might be like, or whether Congress will even pass one.

In addition to her law practice, Pereira provides a short segment about immigration on Telemundo's Spanish-language news program, warning people not to pay for services related to any new immigration law.

"At this point in time, there is no immigration reform. It doesn't matter if you've lived here five, 10 or 20 years," she said. "We don't know what the rules are going to be like."

David Thronson, a founder of the UNLV Boyd School of Law's immigration law clinic, said he has seen similar things before.

"People stand ready to cash in on any changes in law - some are going to wait, and some are going to try and get the jump. There's enough misunderstanding and desperation out there that you can get people to bite now," he said.

"It's always been that way - whether there are big changes (in the law) or small changes."

As an example, Thronson cited the federal government's move to stop walk-in traffic to Bureau of Customs and Immigration Services offices. Now you have to make an appointment online. So some "multi-services" offices charge people up to $100 for doing just that, he said.

The tax "specialists," paralegals and notary publics that staff those offices, however, steadfastly maintain there's nothing wrong with the ads referring to the "new law."

Take Sergio Chih, a tax specialist at America Services, whose ad links immigration law to back taxes. He characterized the reference to the law in the ad as being "like other ads - they don't say things that are 100 percent true.

"But there's no harm done in filing your taxes ... Though we can't be sure that it is going to be a requirement (of any new law), it was one of the most important requirements in previous years.

"We're not trying to take advantage of anybody."

Maestro Eddie, of the English classes, said his students told him that "there was a new law requiring them to learn English. And that was not one, but many students so I thought it was true." He won't give his full name.

Victor Serna is a paralegal at Las Vegas Immigration Services, whose ad offered payment plans. He said his idea was to take $100 retainers from a series of clients and then "reserve a spot for them" if any law is passed.

There was, however, a problem.

"People ask too many questions," he said, "like how much the whole thing will cost and what can they do if there's no new law yet."

So Serna has decided to stop running the ad.

Apart from money lost on a service that may or may not be useful, Thronson said that the impact of all these ads is to muddy the waters of information:

"By doing this, they fuel the confusion about there being a law out there - which sets people up to be exploited by the next guy."