Wonder if they learned their lesson?

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Immigrants file fraud suit against Salvation Army, ex-officialsAssociated Press
ELIZABETH, N.J. - A half-dozen illegal immigrants are suing the Salvation Army and two of its former officials under New Jersey's consumer fraud law, claiming the two local officials took their money under false promises of serving as a "bridge" to gaining legal status.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in state Superior Court in Union County, claims the Rev. Enoc Tito Sotelo told his mostly Latino congregation at Plainfield's two-story Salvation Army church that he would help them become Americans if they each paid $4,000 and gave a $500 donation to the church.

Gilberto Garcia, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, says Sotelo and Jorge Sancho, a Salvation Army captain assigned to the Christian organization's Bound Brook office, used the Salvation Army's reputation to harm his clients. Garcia said the Salvation Army should have known about the two men's activities.

Trish Pelligrini, a spokeswoman for the Salvation Army's New Jersey chapter, declined to comment on the lawsuit when contacted by newspapers, saying the organization had yet to see the suit.

But she said Sotelo was fired in April, and Sancho was dismissed from his job in November.

Pelligrini was not sure of the exact reason why Sotelo and Sancho were let go. But she acknowledged that Sotelo was fired after an internal investigation conducted by Maj. Stephen Banfield, the New Jersey Salvation Army's divisional commander.

The investigation was initiated after complaints about the two men appeared in the Spanish-language newspaper El Diario/La Prensa.

No working telephone numbers could be found in New Jersey for either Sotelo or Sancho.

The lawsuit claims the plaintiffs - five men and one woman from Latin America - were promised they had been "chosen by God" to be sponsored by the Salvation Army for legal permanent residency in the United States.

An accomplice of the defendants helped them file applications requesting green cards for foreigners with extraordinary abilities, such as professional athletes and scientists, with full knowledge they were not eligible, according to the suit. None of the six received green cards.

Garcia, the immigrants' lawyer, says the lawsuit is possible because New Jersey consumer fraud law does not bar illegal immigrants from suing. The suit seeks class-action status, claiming that possibly hundreds more people were defrauded.

Amy Gottlieb, program director of the American Friends Service Committee's Immigration Rights Program, told The New York Times for Saturday newspapers that she believes immigration fraud schemes are on the rise as Congress debates legislation to crack down on illegal immigration.

"People trust the Salvation Army and go to them when they are desperate so this is particularly worrisome," Gottlieb said.

One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Adriana Saldias, told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Saturday newspapers that she paid the money because she was desperate to achieve legal status so she could return to Chile and see her sick mother.

"I feel defrauded because I was hoping I was going to get my permanent residency so I can go see my mother," Saldias said. "My dream is to see my mother before she dies."