Lloyd E. Bennett, Esq. is Quoted as a Panelist in a State and Federal Campaign on Immigration Law

Dec. 13, 2011 - PRLog -- On Friday, December 02, 2011 at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services building in Newark, NJ a group of State and Federal officials announced an interagency initiative to stop immigration scams. The meeting was the first of its kind in New Jersey.  It was modeled on a similar initiative in N.Y. and will be rolled out nationwide shortly.  The meeting was organized by Ms. Kelly Ayala, Outreach Coordinator for the Newark District Office.  

On the panel was Mr. John Thompson, District Director of the Newark District office;  Shannon Slattery of the USCIS Office of Public Engagement from Washington D.C.;  Assistant U.S. Attorney-District of New Jersey,  Mr. Zach Intrater;  Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Attorney Kelvin Chen;  New Jersey Office of Attorney General-Division of Community Affairs, Deputy Director Cindy Miller and Director of the Outreach Division,  Margaret Anastos;  American Immigration Lawyers Association New Jersey Chapter Chair, Lloyd Bennett and Treasurer Allen Pollack along with an Accredited Representative from Catholic Charities, Mr.  Jarteau Israel.

The campaign has three goals, public education, capacity building and enforcement.  The education portion will seek to educating documented and undocumented immigrants about unlicensed service providers and fraudulent websites that are designed to have the appearance of an authentic government agency.  The capacity building will lead to more authorized accredited representatives.  The enforcement goal focuses on reporting the unauthorized providers through the FTC website.  

The FTC announced that they will host a database of consumer fraud immigration related complaints from various organizations and agencies. The database called “Consumer Sentinel” will be shared among their federal and state civil and criminal law enforcement partners in the hopes that it will link communications and lead to more investigations, law enforcement actions and arrests in the future.  Complaints can be posted anonymously on their website which is www.ftc.gov/complaint

Mr. Bennett, the New Jersey Chapter-Chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, who practices immigration law in Union City, N.J., explained that the problem in the Latino community is that the word “Notario” in South America means attorney.  In the U.S. a “Notary” can only witness a signature.  Notaries have no legal training to offer any immigration advice.  In addition, New Jersey already has a law on its books that makes the unauthorized practice of immigration law a forth degree crime.  The problem is that most victims are afraid to come forward and law enforcement has been uninterested.  

After an explanation of the online educational campaigning announced by the FTC Mr. Bennett commented that his “clients do not have access to the internet. They are not going on the FTC’s website.   Any education campaign has to be really grassroots. We need to go through the local papers, the churches and the communities to reach and protect these people.  We need to get the word out to the community that they should stay away from “notaries” and other unauthorized service providers.  The wrong help can hurt.”

For more information please visit the firm's website at http://www.lebpc.com.

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Mr. Bennett works actively in the Latino community to help educate immigrants, citizens, attorneys and government officials about the changes in U.S. immigration laws. As the New Jersey Chapter Chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, he aims to help increase awareness about immigration law and the dangers of seeking improper assistance from notaries and other unlicensed service providers. Only lawyers and accredited immigration representatives can offer immigration assistance and advice. The firm offers reasonable fees in immigration matters with payment plans and contingent fees in personal injury cases which means that the firm does not collect any fees unless they win a settlement on your behalf. To speak to a member of the Bennett legal team you can call the firm directly at (800) 909-8129, visit their website at http://www.lebpc.com or visit them in person at 4713 Bergenline Ave., Union City, NJ 07087. All conversations are confidential.