After I heard about cases of people who have had problems with their immigration procedures after going to Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, I started to investigate if this organization had the corresponding authorization to provide immigration legal advice. The answer is NO.
As I researched, I discovered that several organizations, particularly Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, Hermandad Mexicana Legal Centers and Hermandad Mexicana Transnacional, in and around the Los Angeles area, are not authorized by the government to give legal advice.
By law, only licensed attorneys, law students under the supervision of a licensed attorney, and representatives accredited by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the government agency that regulates accreditation, may give legal advice and assist individuals with their immigration proceedings.
Immigration consultants, notaries, full paperwork and multi-services CANNOT GIVE LEGAL ADVICE. For example, they cannot interview an alien and then tell him or her what immigration form to fill out and what evidence to submit to the federal government to apply for an immigration benefit.
These people can only assist in an immigration process under the full instruction of the person who comes to them, otherwise they are violating the law.
Upon discovering this, I reported it to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the BIA, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and the California Attorney General's Office.
In addition, I discovered that USCIS was planning to hold seven citizenship information sessions at different Hermandad Mexicana Nacional offices in and around the Los Angeles area. I asked USCIS not to appear at Hermandad Mexicana Nacional offices because doing so was indirectly endorsing the unauthorized practice of Hermandad Mexicana Nacional laws. Also, I asked the Los Angeles County prosecutors and the State of California to investigate these organizations and that any illegal proceeds be returned.
I contacted the newspaper La Opinión to alert them about what was happening, and wrote an article.
That story caught the attention of several other media outlets. In one of the reports, a spokeswoman for Hermandad Mexicana Nacional said that they only filled out forms, but the truth is that there are numerous cases of people who have received legal advice. Moreover, they themselves advertise it in their offices, as can be seen in the photo gallery of the La Opinión article and in classified ads.
In addition, during an interview on Univision's Noticiero Nacional on Saturday, June 22, 2013, Mrs. Gloria Saucedo, representative of Hermandad Mexicana Transnacional in Panorama City, CA said that they had applied to the BIA for authorization to offer legal services and that application was pending.
But according to an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review, there is no record that any of the offices of Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, Hermandad Mexicana Legal Centers and Hermandad Mexicana Transnational in the Los Angeles area have been authorized to give legal advice.
The attorney also reported that several offices with the name Hermandad Mexicana Nacional or Hermandad Mexicana Transnacional submitted applications to offer legal services in 2011 and 2012, but were denied, and that the BIA does not have any pending applications for these organizations. This means that the Department of Justice determined that these organizations did not meet the necessary requirements to offer legal services.
Therefore, Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, Hermandad Mexicana Legal Centers and Hermandad Mexicana Transnational in Panorama City have been giving legal advice ILLEGALLY.
It is not enough for an organization to be non-profit and have a pending application to provide legal services. Each of its offices must be accredited by the government at the time it offers legal services and have licensed attorneys or BIA-accredited representatives working for them, otherwise it is acting illegally.
When in doubt, go to this BIA website to see if the agency is accredited and only accept legal advice from licensed attorneys, law students under the supervision of a licensed attorney, or BIA accredited representatives:
https://www.justice.gov/eoir/ra/raroster_orgs_reps_state_city.htm
MundoFox Channel 22 interviewed me on the subject and here is the report:
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