Senator Serrano Co-Sponsors Immigration Services Roundtable

Senator José M. Serrano co-sponsored a roundtable discussion for local community organizations on how to protect the community from immigration services fraud. Assistant Attorney General Roberto G. Lebron from Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman's Office provided a presentation outlining the types of frauds being committed against the immigrant community and how we can best address these persistent issues. The event also included a Q & A session with the Attorney General's office regarding the changing climate of immigration services.  

"We must provide our community organizations with the necessary knowledge to combat illegal practices that seek to take advantage of immigrants."  said Senator Serrano. "It is unfortunate that many immigrants have been the victims of fraudulent immigrant services by unlicensed individuals promising them services that they do not provide. Today's event will go a long way towards eliminating deceptive practices in our community by ensuring that our community organizations are prepared with the latest information necessary to deal with these issues.  It is important that immigrants have the confidence to come forward and speak with the Attorney General's Office and their elected officials when they or someone they know has been the victim of immigration services fraud."

The roundtable was held at Hunter College's Silberman School of Social Work and was widely attended by local advocates and community organizations.    

Serrano continued: "I would like to take this time to commend the Attorney General Schneiderman's office for their ongoing efforts to ensure basic rights for immigrants in our community. I also would like to thank Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito and Assemblymember Robert Rodriguez for co-sponsoring this event.

For more information on immigration services fraud, please visit http://www.ag.ny.gov/feature/immigration-services-fraud.