Fight Notario Fraud Act of 2020

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 8225, the Fight Notario Fraud Act of 2020, addresses a problem that already has a remedy in current law.

The U.S. Department of Justice and State and local officials fight against fraud every day, including fraud related to immigration laws. In addition, the Executive Office for Immigration Review maintains a Fraud and Abuse Prevention Program as a centralized place for anyone to make complaints about issues of fraud, immigration scams, and the unauthorized practice of immigration law.

These existing efforts to fight immigration fraud are working. For example, in San Antonio, Texas, the DOJ charged Eric Jon Alva and his wife, Jessica Rivas Alva, in a scheme to defraud undocumented immigrants by falsely claiming to work on behalf of two San Antonio attorneys. Although they pled guilty and were sentenced to 6 months in Federal prison, they could have been sentenced up to 5 years, and that is 5 years under current law.

By contrast, the bill before us today would impose only a 1-year sentence for similar crimes. In rare circumstances, the defendant may receive a 3-year sentence.

So the Democrats' response to a problem in the immigrant community is apparently to go soft on crime and reduce the penalties for immigration fraud. That doesn't make sense.

We also should not be in the business of complicating the immigration system, but this bill does just that.

This bill prohibits the unauthorized practice of law specific to immigration, but the unauthorized practice of law, no matter the type, is already illegal.

Additionally, by dedicating prosecutors specifically to notario fraud and creating burdensome requirements for prosecuting this fraud, H.R. 8225 could leave other types of immigration crimes understaffed and unaddressed.

Mr. Speaker, I truly appreciate the sentiment behind this bill, I truly do, but if we are going to create a new category of immigration fraud, we should make it as strong as existing law and work to simplify, not to complicate, the current system. Immigrants following the legal system deserve as much.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers at this time, and I am prepared to close. I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I have concerns that H.R. 8225 will only further complicate the immigration system and hurt rather than help the very people it is meant to protect. So with immigrants in mind, I have concerns with this bill as written.

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