Wednesday, 19 January 2000
http://www.azstarnet.com/public/dnews/131-7745.html
David Sanders,
The Arizona Daily Star
Raymond Beltran's Notaria - or notary office - offers immigration
help
By Tim Steller
The Arizona Daily Star
The State Bar of Arizona and a legislator from Tucson want
to convert Raymond Beltran from a form-filler available 24 hours
a day into a felon.
Beltran is a South Tucson notary public.
He and dozens of others in Tucson have set out signs - or simply
sent out word - and made small businesses out of guiding Spanish
speakers through American bureaucracies. More than anything, their
customers want help with immigration procedures and forms.
``If it wasn't for notaries, a lot of people would not have got
their amnesty,'' Beltran said. ``You try to get a lawyer on a
Sunday or at night.''
Preparing immigration forms is a practice reserved primarily for
attorneys under state law. For other people to do so is a misdemeanor,
but the law is rarely enforced.
Under a bill introduced by Sen. Ann Day, R-Tucson, it would become
a felony for Beltran and other ``notarios'' to charge people for
helping with immigration papers. No one other than lawyers, selected
law students and organizations approved by the Immigration and
Naturalization Service would be able to do so.
The State Bar - to which all licensed Arizona lawyers must belong
- argues that many notary publics take advantage of a misleading
Spanish-to-English translation.
``Notario'' in Mexico refers to a lawyer specialized in financial
affairs, including real estate transactions. In Arizona, a notary
public is mainly a person who verifies that you're the one signing
your name to an official document.
Requirements to become a notary public in Arizona are skimpy:
You must be at least 18 years old, without a felony conviction
and take out a $5,000 surety bond before you get your commission
from the secretary of state.
But when somebody translates notary public into notario, Spanish-speakers
get the wrong idea, the State Bar's Ron Johnson argues. Johnson,
the State Bar's director of governmental affairs, calls it ``consumer
fraud.''
``They're not allowed to practice before the INS, but these consumers
don't know that,'' Johnson said.
He called fraud committed by notarios one of the biggest issues
facing Arizona's Hispanic community. But when asked, he could
not provide data to back up that assessment.
``Most of the people who are victimized by notarios, we'll never
hear from,'' he said.
Isabel Garcia, a Tucson immigrant-rights activist and attorney,
says notarios have long caused problems for vulnerable immigrants.
``We've had very, very bad experiences with notarios,'' Garcia
said. ``I've had many cases where they charged the people $2,000
to do their family's (immigration paperwork), and they've never
filed the paper.''
Beltran and others in the local circle of notarios and document
preparers say the real motivation for the bill is that attorneys
want their business. Notarios and others who prepare documents
charge less than lawyers and are more flexible, they said.
``They feel I'm stealing their business,'' said Lupita Shestko-Montiel,
who performs a variety of tasks for clients, including notary
services. ``I don't do no legal representation at all. I'm not
authorized to do it.''
Shestko-Montiel, Beltran and southside document preparer Miguel
Guzman acknowledge that some ``notarios'' have taken advantage
of immigrants. But other laws protect consumers - such as the
laws against fraud - so this one is not necessary, they said.
Indeed, a Tucson woman was sentenced last week to pay more than
$30,000 in restitution to people she ripped off after soliciting
their immigration paperwork.
Irma De La Cruz did not advertise herself as a notary, said Deputy
Pima County Attorney Jeannette Gallagher. She simply held herself
out as a former INS employee experienced in immigration matters,
and she went as far as to create false receipts from the INS.
In April last year, De La Cruz was charged with two counts of
fraudulent schemes and eight counts of forgery. She admitted being
guilty of one count of fraudulent scheme in October and agreed
to pay $31,170 in restitution to 40 clients.
Day said her bill would make such transgressions easier to prosecute,
not just by making them felonies, but also by giving the Attorney
General's Office permission to file civil suits against violators.
The bill goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday.
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