I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8225 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit certain types of fraud 

in the provision of immigration services, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 

Ms. MUCARSEL-POWELL (for herself and Ms. GARCIA of Texas) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit certain 

types of fraud in the provision of immigration services, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fight Notario Fraud 

5 Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FRAUD PROHIBITED. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 47 of title 18, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new section: 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 8225 IH

1 ‘‘§ 1041. Schemes to defraud persons in any matter 

2 arising under immigration laws 

3 ‘‘(a) FRAUD.—Any person who knowingly executes a 

4 scheme or artifice, in connection with any matter author5 ized by or arising under the immigration laws, or any mat6 ter that such person claims or represents is authorized by 

7 or arises under the immigration laws to— 

8 ‘‘(1) defraud any other person; or 

9 ‘‘(2) obtain or receive money or anything else of 

10 value from any other person by means of false or 

11 fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, 

12 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 

13 1 year, or both. 

14 ‘‘(b) MISREPRESENTATION.—Any person who know15 ingly makes a false representation that such person is an 

16 attorney or an accredited representative (as such term is 

17 defined under section 1292.1(a)(4) of title 8, Code of Fed18 eral Regulations (or any successor regulation)) in any 

19 matter arising under the immigration laws shall be fined 

20 under this title, imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both. 

21 ‘‘(c) THREATS AND RETALIATION.—Any person who 

22 violates subsection (a) and knowingly— 

23 ‘‘(1) threatens to report another person to Fed24 eral authorities or State law enforcement authorities 

25 working in conjunction with or pursuant to Federal 

26 authority; 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 8225 IH

1 ‘‘(2) acts to adversely affect another person’s 

2 immigration status, perceived immigration status, or 

3 attempts to secure immigration status that— 

4 ‘‘(A) impacts or results in the removal of 

5 the person from the United States; 

6 ‘‘(B) leads to the loss of immigration sta7 tus; or 

8 ‘‘(C) causes the person seeking to apply for 

9 an immigration benefit to lose an opportunity 

10 to apply for such an immigration benefit that 

11 would have provided immigration status and for 

12 which a person was prima facie eligible; or 

13 ‘‘(3) demands or retains money or anything else 

14 of value for services fraudulently performed or not 

15 performed or withholds or threatens to withhold 

16 services promised to be performed, 

17 shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 

18 1 year, or both. 

19 ‘‘(d) GRAVITY OF OFFENSE.— 

20 ‘‘(1) CUMULATIVE LOSS.—Any person who vio21 lates subsection (a), (b), or (c) such that the cumu22 lative loss to all victims exceeds $10,000 may be im23 prisoned not more than 3 years, fined under this 

24 title, or both. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 8225 IH

1 ‘‘(2) RETALIATION.—Any person who violates 

2 subsection (a) or (b) and causes the harm described 

3 in subsection (c)(2) may be imprisoned not more 

4 than 3 years, fined under this title, or both. 

5 ‘‘(e) INFORMATION SHARING AND ENFORCEMENT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Immigrant and Em7 ployee Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division of 

8 the Department of Justice— 

9 ‘‘(A) shall have primary enforcement re10 sponsibility for this section and shall be con11 sulted prior to a United States Attorney initi12 ating an action under this section; 

13 ‘‘(B) shall establish procedures to receive 

14 and investigate complaints of fraudulent immi15 gration schemes from the public that are con16 sistent with the procedures for receiving and in17 vestigating complaints of unfair immigration-re18 lated employment practices; and 

19 ‘‘(C) shall maintain and publish on the 

20 internet, information aimed at protecting con21 sumers from fraudulent immigration schemes, 

22 as well as a list of individuals who have been 

23 convicted of unlawful conduct under this section 

24 or have been found by a State or Federal agenVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Sep 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8225.IH H8225

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 8225 IH

1 cy to have unlawfully provided immigration 

2 services. 

3 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS.— 

4 The Attorney General shall establish no fewer than 

5 15 Special United States Attorney positions in dis6 tricts the Attorney General determines, after ana7 lyzing data following each decennial census, to be 

8 most affected by the fraud described in subsections 

9 (a), (b), and (c). 

10 ‘‘(3) RESTITUTION.—There shall be deposited 

11 in the Crime Victims Fund established under section 

12 1402 of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (34 

13 U.S.C. 20101) any restitution ordered for an offense 

14 under this section if the victim of such offense can15 not reasonably be located. 

16 ‘‘(f) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this section, 

17 or the application of such a provision to any person or 

18 circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 

19 of this section and the application of the remaining provi20 sions of this section to any person or circumstance shall 

21 not be affected thereby. 

22 ‘‘(g) IMMIGRATION LAWS.—In this section, the term 

23 ‘immigration laws’ has the meaning given that term in sec24 tion 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

25 (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)).’’. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 8225 IH

1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 for chapter 47 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

3 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘1041. Schemes to defraud persons in any matter arising under immigration 

laws.’’. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS