I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 912 

To provide for punishments for immigration-related fraud, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2017 

Mr. FOSTER (for himself, Ms. TITUS, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. SOTO, Mr. TONKO, Ms. NORTON, 

Mr. COHEN, Ms. MENG, Mr. GUTIE ́RREZ, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. GRIJALVA, 

Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Ms. 

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for punishments for immigration-related fraud, 

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 ‘‘Protecting Immigrants 

5 From Legal Exploitation Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SCHEMES TO PROVIDE FRAUDULENT IMMIGRATION 

2 SERVICES. 

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

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 1041. Schemes to provide fraudulent immigration 

7 services 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any person who knowingly or 

9 recklessly executes a scheme or artifice, in connection with 

10 any matter that is authorized by or arises under any Fed11 eral immigration law or any matter the offender claims 

12 or represents is authorized by or arises under any Federal 

13 immigration law, to— 

14 ‘‘(1) defraud any person; or 

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

16 value from any person by means of false or fraudu17 lent pretenses, representations, or promises, 

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

19 10 years, or both. 

20 ‘‘(b) MISREPRESENTATION.—Any person who know21 ingly and falsely represents that such person is an attor22 ney or an accredited representative (as that term is de23 fined in section 1292.1 of title 8, Code of Federal Regula24 tions (or any successor regulation)) in any matter arising 

25 under any Federal immigration law shall be fined under 

26 this title, imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both. 


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1 ‘‘(c) REIMBURSEMENT.—Any person convicted of of2 fenses under this section must fully reimburse the client 

3 for any services that person fraudulently provided.’’. 

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

5 for such chapter is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

‘‘1041. Schemes to provide fraudulent immigration services.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. COMBATING SCHEMES TO DEFRAUD ALIENS. 

8 (a) REGULATIONS, FORMS, AND PROCEDURES.—The 

9 Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney Gen10 eral, for matters within their respective jurisdictions aris11 ing under the immigration laws, shall promulgate appro12 priate regulations, forms, and procedures defining the cir13 cumstances in which— 

14 (1) persons submitting applications, petitions, 

15 motions, or other written materials relating to immi16 gration benefits or relief from removal under the im17 migration laws will be required to identify who 

18 (other than immediate family members) assisted 

19 them in preparing or translating the immigration 

20 submissions; and 

21 (2) any person or persons who received com22 pensation (other than a normal fee for copying, 

23 mailing, or similar services) in connection with the 

24 preparation, completion, or submission of such mateVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Feb 15, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H912.IH H912

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1 rials will be required to sign the form as a preparer 

2 and provide identifying information. 

3 (b) CIVIL INJUNCTIONS AGAINST IMMIGRATION

4 SERVICE PROVIDER.—The Attorney General may com5 mence a civil action in the name of the United States to 

6 enjoin any immigration service provider from further en7 gaging in any fraudulent conduct that substantially inter8 feres with the proper administration of the immigration 

9 laws or who willfully misrepresents such provider’s legal 

10 authority to provide representation before the Department 

11 of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. 

12 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) IMMIGRATION LAWS.—The term ‘‘immigra14 tion laws’’ has the meaning given that term in sec15 tion 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality 

16 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)). 

17 (2) IMMIGRATION SERVICE PROVIDER.—The 

18 term ‘‘immigration service provider’’ means any indi19 vidual or entity (other than an attorney or individual 

20 otherwise authorized to provide representation in im21 migration proceedings as provided in Federal regula22 tion) who, for a fee or other compensation, provides 

23 any assistance or representation to aliens in relation 

24 to any filing or proceeding relating to the alien 

25 which arises, or which the provider claims to arise, 


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1 under the immigration laws, Executive order, or 

2 Presidential proclamation. 

3 SEC. 4. RELIEF FOR VICTIMS OF NOTARIO FRAUD. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—An alien may withdraw, without 

5 prejudice, an application or other submission for immigra6 tion status or other immigration benefit if the alien sub7 mits information indicating the application or submission 

8 was prepared or submitted by an individual engaged in 

9 the unauthorized practice of law or immigration practi10 tioner fraud and attests that the alien had no prior knowl11 edge the application or submission was prepared or sub12 mitted by an individual engaged in the unauthorized prac13 tice of law or immigration practitioner fraud. 

14 (b) CORRECTED FILINGS.—The Secretary of Home15 land Security, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney 

16 General shall develop a procedure for submitting corrected 

17 applications or other submissions withdrawn under para18 graph (1). The Secretary of Homeland Security, the Sec19 retary of State, and the Attorney General shall permit cor20 rected applications or other submissions to be resubmitted 

21 notwithstanding the numerical and time limitations on the 

22 filing of the applications or other submissions covered by 

23 this Act. 

24 (c) WAIVER OF BAR TO REENTRY.—Section 

25 212(a)(9)(B)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 


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1 (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B)(ii)), as amended by section 

2 2315(a), is further amended by adding at the end the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(VII) IMMIGRATION PRACTI5 TIONER FRAUD.—Clause (i) shall not 

6 apply to an alien if he can prove by a 

7 preponderance of the evidence that he 

8 departed the United States based on 

9 the erroneous advice of an individual 

10 engaged in the unauthorized practice 

11 of law or immigration practitioner 

12 fraud.’’. 

13 (d) REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING CONTEMPT AU14 THORITY OF IMMIGRATION JUDGES.—Not later than 180 

15 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

16 General shall promulgate regulations implementing the 

17 contempt authority for immigration judges provided by 

18 section 240(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

19 (8 U.S.C. 1229a(b)(1)). Such regulations shall provide 

20 that any civil contempt sanctions including any monetary 

21 penalty may be applicable to all parties appearing before 

22 the immigration judge. 

23 SEC. 5. OUTREACH TO IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES. 

24 (a) AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT.—The Secretary of 

25 Homeland Security and the Attorney General, acting 


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1 through the Director of the Office for Immigration Re2 view, shall carry out a program to educate aliens regarding 

3 who may provide legal services and representation to 

4 aliens in immigration proceedings through cost-effective 

5 outreach to immigrant communities. 

6 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program author7 ized under subsection (a) is to prevent aliens from being 

8 subjected to fraud by individuals who are not authorized 

9 to provide legal services or representation to aliens. 

10 (c) AVAILABILITY.—The Attorney General shall, to 

11 the extent practicable, make publicly available information 

12 regarding fraud by immigration consultants, visa consult13 ants, and other individuals who are not authorized to pro14 vide legal services or representation to aliens available— 

15 (1) at appropriate offices that provide services 

16 or information to aliens; and 

17 (2) through Web sites that are— 

18 (A) maintained by the Attorney General; 

19 and 

20 (B) intended to provide information re21 garding immigration matters to aliens. 

22 (d) FOREIGN LANGUAGE MATERIALS.—Any edu23 cational materials used to carry out the program author24 ized under subsection (a) shall, to the extent practicable, 


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1 be made available to immigrant communities in appro2 priate languages, including English and Spanish. 

3 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 (1) AMOUNTS AUTHORIZED.—There are author5 ized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec6 essary to carry out this section. 

7 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appropriated 

8 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall remain available 

9 until expended. 

10 SEC. 6. GRANT PROGRAM TO ASSIST ELIGIBLE APPLI11 CANTS. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary and the Attor13 ney General shall establish, within the U.S. Citizenship 

14 and Immigration Services and the Executive Office for Im15 migration Review respectively, programs to award grants, 

16 on a competitive basis, to eligible nonprofit organizations 

17 to provide direct legal services to aliens as described in 

18 subsection (c). 

19 (b) ELIGIBLE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The 

20 term ‘‘eligible nonprofit organization’’ means a nonprofit, 

21 tax-exempt organization whose staff has demonstrated 

22 qualifications, experience, and expertise in providing qual23 ity services to immigrants, refugees, persons granted asy24 lum, or persons applying for such statuses. 


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1 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Grant funds awarded under 

2 this section shall be used for the design and implementa3 tion of programs to provide direct assistance, within the 

4 scope of authorized practice of law, to aliens in removal 

5 proceedings and to aliens completing applications and pe6 titions, including providing assistance in obtaining nec7 essary documents and supporting evidence. 

8 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

9 (1) AMOUNTS AUTHORIZED.—There are author10 ized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec11 essary to carry out this section. 

12 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appropriated 

13 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall remain available 

14 until expended. 

Æ 


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