Protecting Immigrants From Legal Exploitation Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2430 To provide for punishments for immigration-related fraud, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 1, 2019 Mr. FOSTER (for himself, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. NORTON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. COHEN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. MENG, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. WELCH, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. RUSH, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. TITUS, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. MOORE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. OMAR, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. RICHMOND, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, and Mr. AGUILAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide for punishments for immigration-related fraud, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Immigrants 4 From Legal Exploitation Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2430.IH H2430 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2430 IH SEC. 2. SCHEMES TO PROVIDE FRAUDULENT IMMIGRATION 1 SERVICES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 47 of title 18, United 3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘§ 1041. Schemes to provide fraudulent immigration 6 services 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any person who knowingly or 8 recklessly executes a scheme or artifice, in connection with 9 any matter that is authorized by or arises under any Fed- 10 eral immigration law or any matter the offender claims 11 or represents is authorized by or arises under any Federal 12 immigration law, to— 13 ‘‘(1) defraud any person; or 14 ‘‘(2) obtain or receive money or anything else of 15 value from any person by means of false or fraudu- 16 lent pretenses, representations, or promises, 17 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 18 10 years, or both. 19 ‘‘(b) MISREPRESENTATION.—Any person who know- 20 ingly and falsely represents that such person is an attor- 21 ney or an accredited representative (as that term is de- 22 fined in section 1292.1 of title 8, Code of Federal Regula- 23 tions (or any successor regulation)) in any matter arising 24 under any Federal immigration law shall be fined under 25 this title, imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2430.IH H2430 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2430 IH ‘‘(c) REIMBURSEMENT.—Any person convicted of of- 1 fenses under this section must fully reimburse the client 2 for any services that person fraudulently provided.’’. 3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 4 for such chapter is amended by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘1041. Schemes to provide fraudulent immigration services.’’. SEC. 3. COMBATING SCHEMES TO DEFRAUD ALIENS. 7 (a) REGULATIONS, FORMS, AND PROCEDURES.—The 8 Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney Gen- 9 eral, for matters within their respective jurisdictions aris- 10 ing under the immigration laws, shall promulgate appro- 11 priate regulations, forms, and procedures defining the cir- 12 cumstances in which— 13 (1) persons submitting applications, petitions, 14 motions, or other written materials relating to immi- 15 gration benefits or relief from removal under the im- 16 migration laws will be required to identify who 17 (other than immediate family members) assisted 18 them in preparing or translating the immigration 19 submissions; and 20 (2) any person or persons who received com- 21 pensation (other than a normal fee for copying, 22 mailing, or similar services) in connection with the 23 preparation, completion, or submission of such mate- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2430.IH H2430 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2430 IH rials will be required to sign the form as a preparer 1 and provide identifying information. 2 (b) CIVIL INJUNCTIONS AGAINST IMMIGRATION 3 SERVICE PROVIDER.—The Attorney General may com- 4 mence a civil action in the name of the United States to 5 enjoin any immigration service provider from further en- 6 gaging in any fraudulent conduct that substantially inter- 7 feres with the proper administration of the immigration 8 laws or who willfully misrepresents such provider’s legal 9 authority to provide representation before the Department 10 of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. 11 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 12 (1) IMMIGRATION LAWS.—The term ‘‘immigra- 13 tion laws’’ has the meaning given that term in sec- 14 tion 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality 15 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)). 16 (2) IMMIGRATION SERVICE PROVIDER.—The 17 term ‘‘immigration service provider’’ means any indi- 18 vidual or entity (other than an attorney or individual 19 otherwise authorized to provide representation in im- 20 migration proceedings as provided in Federal regula- 21 tion) who, for a fee or other compensation, provides 22 any assistance or representation to aliens in relation 23 to any filing or proceeding relating to the alien 24 which arises, or which the provider claims to arise, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2430.IH H2430 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2430 IH under the immigration laws, Executive order, or 1 Presidential proclamation. 2 SEC. 4. RELIEF FOR VICTIMS OF NOTARIO FRAUD. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—An alien may withdraw, without 4 prejudice, an application or other submission for immigra- 5 tion status or other immigration benefit if the alien sub- 6 mits information indicating the application or submission 7 was prepared or submitted by an individual engaged in 8 the unauthorized practice of law or immigration practi- 9 tioner fraud and attests that the alien had no prior knowl- 10 edge the application or submission was prepared or sub- 11 mitted by an individual engaged in the unauthorized prac- 12 tice of law or immigration practitioner fraud. 13 (b) CORRECTED FILINGS.—The Secretary of Home- 14 land Security, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney 15 General shall develop a procedure for submitting corrected 16 applications or other submissions withdrawn under para- 17 graph (1). The Secretary of Homeland Security, the Sec- 18 retary of State, and the Attorney General shall permit cor- 19 rected applications or other submissions to be resubmitted 20 notwithstanding the numerical and time limitations on the 21 filing of the applications or other submissions covered by 22 this Act. 23 (c) WAIVER OF BAR TO REENTRY.—Section 24 212(a)(9)(B)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2430.IH H2430 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2430 IH (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B)(ii)), as amended by section 1 2315(a), is further amended by adding at the end the fol- 2 lowing: 3 ‘‘(VII) IMMIGRATION PRACTI- 4 TIONER FRAUD.—Clause (i) shall not 5 apply to an alien if he can prove by a 6 preponderance of the evidence that he 7 departed the United States based on 8 the erroneous advice of an individual 9 engaged in the unauthorized practice 10 of law or immigration practitioner 11 fraud.’’. 12 (d) REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING CONTEMPT AU- 13 THORITY OF IMMIGRATION JUDGES.—Not later than 180 14 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 15 General shall promulgate regulations implementing the 16 contempt authority for immigration judges provided by 17 section 240(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 18 (8 U.S.C. 1229a(b)(1)). Such regulations shall provide 19 that any civil contempt sanctions including any monetary 20 penalty may be applicable to all parties appearing before 21 the immigration judge. 22 SEC. 5. OUTREACH TO IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES. 23 (a) AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT.—The Secretary of 24 Homeland Security and the Attorney General, acting 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2430.IH H2430 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 2430 IH through the Director of the Office for Immigration Re- 1 view, shall carry out a program to educate aliens regarding 2 who may provide legal services and representation to 3 aliens in immigration proceedings through cost-effective 4 outreach to immigrant communities. 5 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program author- 6 ized under subsection (a) is to prevent aliens from being 7 subjected to fraud by individuals who are not authorized 8 to provide legal services or representation to aliens. 9 (c) AVAILABILITY.—The Attorney General shall, to 10 the extent practicable, make publicly available information 11 regarding fraud by immigration consultants, visa consult- 12 ants, and other individuals who are not authorized to pro- 13 vide legal services or representation to aliens available— 14 (1) at appropriate offices that provide services 15 or information to aliens; and 16 (2) through Web sites that are— 17 (A) maintained by the Attorney General; 18 and 19 (B) intended to provide information re- 20 garding immigration matters to aliens. 21 (d) FOREIGN LANGUAGE MATERIALS.—Any edu- 22 cational materials used to carry out the program author- 23 ized under subsection (a) shall, to the extent practicable, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2430.IH H2430 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 2430 IH be made available to immigrant communities in appro- 1 priate languages, including English and Spanish. 2 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 3 (1) AMOUNTS AUTHORIZED.—There are author- 4 ized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec- 5 essary to carry out this section. 6 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appropriated 7 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall remain available 8 until expended. 9 SEC. 6. GRANT PROGRAM TO ASSIST ELIGIBLE APPLI- 10 CANTS. 11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary and the Attor- 12 ney General shall establish, within the U.S. Citizenship 13 and Immigration Services and the Executive Office for Im- 14 migration Review respectively, programs to award grants, 15 on a competitive basis, to eligible nonprofit organizations 16 to provide direct legal services to aliens as described in 17 subsection (c). 18 (b) ELIGIBLE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The 19 term ‘‘eligible nonprofit organization’’ means a nonprofit, 20 tax-exempt organization whose staff has demonstrated 21 qualifications, experience, and expertise in providing qual- 22 ity services to immigrants, refugees, persons granted asy- 23 lum, or persons applying for such statuses. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2430.IH H2430 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 2430 IH (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Grant funds awarded under 1 this section shall be used for the design and implementa- 2 tion of programs to provide direct assistance, within the 3 scope of authorized practice of law, to aliens in removal 4 proceedings and to aliens completing applications and pe- 5 titions, including providing assistance in obtaining nec- 6 essary documents and supporting evidence. 7 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 8 (1) AMOUNTS AUTHORIZED.—There are author- 9 ized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec- 10 essary to carry out this section. 11 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appropriated 12 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall remain available 13 until expended. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:39 May 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2430.IH H2430 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS