Waukegan/NYT: Fake Lawyers and Notaries Prey on Immigrants

This story has been heavy in our local and Chicago news. Now I see that the NYT has picked it up. It is very telling, disturbing? that a local activist who has sued our city on numerous occasions, and who has spoken out so very vocally for the large population of illegal aliens in our town has actually been preying on them.


http://www.chicagoreporter.com/sites...rascophoto.jpg


October 21, 2011
Fake Lawyers and Notaries Prey on Immigrants
By JESSICA WEISBERG and BRIDGET O’SHEA



On May 6, just hours before his asylum hearing, Mario de la Rosa, a Mexican immigrant living in Waukegan, waited in the parking lot of a CVS pharmacy for the person representing him in his case, Margaret Carrasco, to arrive. She never did.

Eventually, Mr. De la Rosa said, he drove to Ms. Carrasco’s home, where she handed him a messy stack of forms, all filled out in English and unintelligible to Mr. De la Rosa, who speaks only Spanish. Ms. Carrasco apologized for being too ill to appear in court, he recalled. He believed her. He had no reason not to.

He said he felt lucky to work with Ms. Carrasco, a bilingual immigrant activist in Waukegan and, he thought, a lawyer. She even allowed clients to pay her $500 fee in installments.

But sick or not, Ms. Carrasco, 51, may have had a more pressing reason to avoid representing Mr. De la Rosa in court: she does not have the proper legal accreditation to do so. On Oct. 14, Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed suit against Ms. Carrasco, accusing her of misrepresenting herself as an immigration lawyer and charging her clients “unconscionable feesâ€

This was a previous article about the victim and how her actions have affected his family. Quite a telling the story that they came here for medical treatment for their son.



Federal deportation review of illegal immigration cases brings mix of hope, confusion


Alejandro Brito, 24, who has cerebral palsy, rests at home this month in Waukegan. His stepfather is facing deportation and hopes to win a reprieve in an upcoming federal review process. (Terrence Antonio James, Chicago Tribune / October 10, 2011)



By Antonio Olivo, Tribune reporter

October 20, 2011

Inside the yellow house on Genesee Street, Clara Ibarra can hear the sound of grinding teeth from several rooms away — grating and grating, like rocks crushed against rocks.

It's her son, Alejandro Brito. He is 24 now, but his body, gnarled by quadriplegia cerebral palsy, is not much bigger than when she carried him across a desert to illegally enter the U.S. 12 years ago to seek better medical care.

Grinding his molars inside the Waukegan home, he can see she's worried as she walks into his tiny bedroom, and so, apparently, is he. Because Brito can no longer speak and is barely able to move, repeatedly rubbing his worn-down teeth together is among the few ways he can show he's aware.

It's a few days before the family learns whether Brito's stepfather, Mario De la Rosa, will be deported to Mexico or win a federal reprieve, which is being sought by several hundred thousand other people in the country illegally.

If De la Rosa, 51, the family's main breadwinner, is ordered to leave the country, Ibarra, their teenage daughter and Brito, all also in the U.S. illegally, plan to return with him to a remote section of Guerrero, Mexico. There, the regular medical care that Brito requires is unlikely to be available.

"If we have to go, he would last one month, or two months," Ibarra says, before adjusting Brito's pillow near a crucifix on the wall and stacked cartons of the protein milk that is fed to him through an intravenous tube. "One has to be realistic."

People with such stories have clamored for attention in the nation's immigration courts since the Obama administration announced in August that a federal task force would review about 300,000 deportation cases. Those that don't involve hardened criminals or other habitual lawbreakers may be dismissed, leaving the immigrants in legal limbo but removing the threat of immediate deportation.

That monumental task has yet to begin, though Homeland Security officials and immigration attorneys say that such "prosecutorial discretion" has already been exercised in some cases, mostly related to people brought into the U.S. illegally as children.

Deportations reached a record-high 396,906 during the last 12 months, and a mixture of hope, desperation and confusion over the planned federal review swirls through communities with large immigrant populations, such as Waukegan.

With false rumors circulating about amnesty, immigration attorneys say they've been flooded with requests for assistance and are even approached by people who are not currently involved in deportation proceedings.

"People feel like this is something that they can apply for, that this is something new that was created in the law," said Mony Ruiz-Velasco, director of legal services at the Chicago-based National Immigrant Justice Center. "We explain to people that this is not a new remedy under immigration law. This is just something that the government can choose to do at their own discretion."

The sense of urgency has made illegal immigrants susceptible to fraud, authorities say.

Last week, the Illinois attorney general's office filed a civil lawsuit against Waukegan activist Margaret Carrasco for allegedly misrepresenting herself as an immigration attorney. Among those who sought her help was De la Rosa, who said he gave Carrasco $200 to assist him in his deportation case but got nothing in return.

Carrasco denies the allegations against her. De la Rosa is now represented by the justice center.

Federal immigration officials say they're working to clear the confusion over the deportation review policy. In deciding which cases get a pass, officials will consider factors that include a person's criminal history, length of time in the U.S. and health, as well as whether the person has repeatedly violated immigration laws. Those who win a reprieve will still not be allowed to work in the U.S. and may be deported at a later date, officials said.

Critics dismiss the effort as politically motivated.

"My sense is that this is part of the White House's effort to try to calm down the open borders groups who said they were going to suppress Hispanic votes" during the 2012 elections, said Roy Beck, director of the Virginia-based NumbersUSA organization, which wants reduced immigration.

Many cases, like De la Rosa's, are complicated. He landed most recently on the government's radar in February, after Waukegan police pulled him over for a faulty headlight.

De la Rosa has sneaked into the U.S. more than once. He left the country voluntary in 2003 to put an end to an illegal immigration case that included charges he used a fake ID. But he journeyed across the border again three months later.

That history works against him in his current efforts to avoid deportation, as does the fact that he's not Brito's natural father and isn't married to Ibarra — though they have been together for two decades and consider themselves husband and wife.

De la Rosa first came to the U.S. from Mexico in 1997, seven years after he and Ibarra became a couple and, with Brito's father gone, he agreed to take on that role for her disabled son. The two have a daughter together, Izamar, 18.

The couple said doctors in Mexico were unable to diagnose Brito. When he began to convulse in epileptic seizures, the doctors predicted the boy would soon die.

"We had to do something," De la Rosa said. "With the money I was making over there, there wasn't enough to live on, or to buy his medicine."

De la Rosa eventually settled in Waukegan, sending money home when he found work at a factory that made gaming equipment.

Brito was losing his ability to swallow food and walk by the time he turned 9. In 1999, Ibarra decided to take Brito, then 12, and Izamar, then 5, to join De la Rosa in Waukegan and seek better medical care.

She carried her malnourished son for seven hours across the Sonoran desert, supporting his weight with a borrowed shawl tied around her shoulder. The boy's feet knocked into her legs that dark night, she said, threatening to trip her as she held Izamar's hand and trudged toward Arizona.

"In those situations, one has to keep walking or you'll get left behind," Ibarra said, adding that she didn't tell smugglers about Brito's condition for fear of being rejected as unfit for the journey.

With improved medical care, Brito's condition has stabilized. For a year, his medical bills were covered by state Medicaid, they said. Now, they pay for doctor visits, his protein milk, diapers and intravenous tubes with money that Ibarra makes selling tamales and other treats on weekends.

Since De la Rosa rejoined his family in 2003, their life has settled into uneventful routine. Ibarra stays home with Brito while her husband works a few hours at a nearby grocery store, making enough to cover the rent and other expenses with help from relatives living in the house.

"All of us here work, but are home early," De la Rosa said. "By 7 or 8 (p.m.) the doors are shut and everyone is inside."

An icy rain fell last February when De la Rosa came home to find Ibarra too exhausted to make dinner. He volunteered to make a quick run for tacos.

On his way back, a Waukegan police officer noticed the bad headlight on his car and pulled him over, right in front of the house. A background check showed an arrest warrant for the fake ID charge. De la Rosa was taken to jail, leaving the uneaten tacos cooling in the passenger's seat.

According to Ibarra, the police officer told her he was going to take her husband and leave the car. "I said: 'Take the car and leave my husband!'" she recalls.

The removal proceedings have cast a shadow on the family's home. Days typically begin at 5:30 a.m., with De la Rosa recharging the beeping, bulky monitoring bracelet fastened to his ankle by immigration authorities in lieu of jail.

Their daughter, who has put off plans to attend nursing school while the case is pending, gets up to work at a medical supplies company.

When everyone is gone, Ibarra uses her silent son as a sounding board for all her worries.

"He thinks and knows," she said. "There are times when I've told him: `I'm going to die, son. I can't bear it anymore.' And he moves his head to say 'No.'"

As she spoke about him, Brito stared intently at his mother with wide, dark eyes, delivering a silent rebuke only she understood.

"Don't be angry, son," she said soothingly. "He's mad because too many people are here."

On the morning of De la Rosa's court hearing this month, Ibarra sat praying inside a tiny U.S. Department of Justice courtroom tucked on the 17th floor of a downtown Chicago skyscraper. This was to be the day when their fate would be determined.

A previous petition for clemency unrelated to the review of cases planned by the Obama administration had been denied. In court, Ruiz-Velasco, the justice center's attorney, made the case again while De la Rosa sat next to her.

The immigration judge, facing his share of a backlog of immigration cases that nationally reached nearly 286,000 in July, expressed exasperation over having to see this one again. He asked a federal attorney whether the government still planned to pursue deportation.

"Have you made a decision yet?" Judge Robert Vinikoor said. "Why should I keep this case on my calendar?"

The attorney, after conferring privately with Ruiz-Velasco, asked that the case be postponed until July. A Homeland Security official said such continuances have been more frequent in anticipation of the administration's official review.

While his case wasn't dropped, the delay allowed De la Rosa to breathe a little easier.

"I feel like I'm walking on air," he said, enjoying his limbo status a few days later, still rubbing the ankle where his monitoring bracelet had been removed.

In the next room, Brito lay in his upright bed, his hand rubbing the back of his head while he watched a TV with the volume turned all the way down.

aolivo@tribune.com

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... full.story

go back to Mexico for help
The American want help & don't get it so who the hell are you ?
the American better start demand . what they want also
Im sick of all this bs
My friend has MS for year's yes they have have to pay
I don't feel sorry for any of you . go hold your sign in Mexico
you want to see sick go to the Va & see what going on
the men that fight for our country why they don't get a thank you
from our gov
so go back to mexico & hold that sign & see what you get
you all are Illegal immigrants Not only the mexico all the other country also
we don't have one white american in our store I go into a store & if I see a china or Mexico or any other from another country
I walk the hell our

No amnesty :twisted:

This is the most ridiculous lying excuse for journalism and news I have ever seen.

This child survived for 12 years just fine in Mexico. He is exactly the same as he was when he came here according to his mother, who should know. So how has all this expensive to taxpayers yet free to these criminal illegals helped?

It hasn't helped this child one bit but helped lazy parents who don't want to work hard in Mexico for these privileges a whole lot.

They all need to be deported immediately - but the mom and children need to go immediately. All benefits cut off immediately.

Quote............"More than a million people have been deported since President Obama took office three years ago, compared with 1.57 million people deported during President Bush’s eight years in office"

We all know once Obama promised we was going to hand out citizenship to illegals the flood gates opened as MILLIONS jumped the border.

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Originally Posted by GaPatriot

This is the most ridiculous lying excuse for journalism and news I have ever seen.

This child survived for 12 years just fine in Mexico. He is exactly the same as he was when he came here according to his mother, who should know. So how has all this expensive to taxpayers yet free to these criminal illegals helped?

It hasn't helped this child one bit but helped lazy parents who don't want to work hard in Mexico for these privileges a whole lot.

They all need to be deported immediately - but the mom and children need to go immediately. All benefits cut off immediately.

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Ibarra stays home with Brito while her husband works a few hours at a nearby grocery store

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"We had to do something," De la Rosa said. "With the money I was making over there, there wasn't enough to live on, or to buy his medicine."

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Such hard working people. He only works a few hours while mom stays home. Of course Mom had to work in her home country-she doesn't have to work here and stays home.

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That history works against him in his current efforts to avoid deportation, as does the fact that he's not Brito's natural father and isn't married to Ibarra —

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This lying story says that they aren't married in one place but says they are in another. We all know the real reason why they aren't married. There would be fewer benefits if they were. :evil:

Original article added to Homepage with amended title--

http://www.alipac.us/article-6694--0-0.html

Could we get any more dramatic? Teeth grinding, a cold and icy nite, a *borrowed* shawl for the long walk through the desert. Tacos left in the car never to be eaten. "Take the car and leave my husband" she cried. And of course the famous crucifix on the wall. Blah blah .

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When everyone is gone, Ibarra uses her silent son as a sounding board for all her worries.

"He thinks and knows," she said. "There are times when I've told him: `I'm going to die, son. I can't bear it anymore.' And he moves his head to say 'No.'"

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Like good mamacitas everywhere, Ms. Ibarra is always trying to lift her sons spirits.

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Originally Posted by pattyk

Quote:

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When everyone is gone, Ibarra uses her silent son as a sounding board for all her worries.

"He thinks and knows," she said. "There are times when I've told him: `I'm going to die, son. I can't bear it anymore.' And he moves his head to say 'No.'"

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Like good mamacitas everywhere, Ms. Ibarra is always trying to lift her sons spirits.

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Sounds like child abuse doesn't it? Oh wait silly me this isn't a child as he's 24 years old. Illegal aliens never grow up.