Tuesdays and Wednesdays have been difficult these past few weeks. For our office we hold consultations on these days, and I typically answer questions from people wanting to know if they can petition their spouse, their sibling, their child, etc. Mixed in with all that we’ve had people coming in asking about citizenship. I sometimes love these consultations because I get to tell people that they’re ready to become American citizens. Their eyes light up a little, and though they tend to be a little leery about the cost, or the questions that they might have to answer, they get excited.
Lately though I’ve had too many consultations where paperwork was done by "notarios." In Mexico, a notario has the same recognition as an attorney. Actually, some attorneys are notaries. It’s considered to be a special distinction. Here, a notario is a notary public and has no business doing legal work, yet immigrants and their families go to them everyday and have their paperwork filled out incorrectly by these people. Then they come to us asking why they never received an approval, why it’s taking so long, why the application was denied, why they’re getting deported?
It’s depressing.
Notarios, and people who can be classified as such, may be sued under the DTPA thanks to some courageous people in DAs offices around the state and country. However, it’s not enough. These immigrants have no recourse other than to sue. They can’t get their supposed place back in line, can’t really take back whatever was submitted to the government. The damage has been done thanks to the misrepresentation, and unlike victims of crime who have a visa they can apply for, there is no crime to report. At least not that the government will recognize… yet. They basically lose it all, and get some change in the process.
So, it’s been a tough few weeks.