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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fight Notario Fraud 
Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. FRAUD PROHIBITED. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 47 of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new section: 
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‘‘§ 1041. Schemes to defraud persons in any matter 
arising under immigration laws 
‘‘(a) FRAUD.—Any person who knowingly executes a 
scheme or artifice, in connection with any matter author-
ized by or arising under the immigration laws, or any mat-
ter that such person claims or represents is authorized by 
or arises under the immigration laws to— 
‘‘(1) defraud any other person; or 
‘‘(2) obtain or receive money or anything else of 
value from any other person by means of false or 
fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, 
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 
1 year, or both. 
‘‘(b) MISREPRESENTATION.—Any person who know-
ingly makes a false representation that such person is an 
attorney or an accredited representative (as such term is 
defined under section 1292.1(a)(4) of title 8, Code of Fed-
eral Regulations (or any successor regulation)) in any 
matter arising under the immigration laws shall be fined 
under this title, imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both. 
‘‘(c) THREATS AND RETALIATION.—Any person who 
violates subsection (a) and knowingly— 
‘‘(1) threatens to report another person to Fed-
eral authorities or State law enforcement authorities 
working in conjunction with or pursuant to Federal 
authority; 
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‘‘(2) acts to adversely affect another person’s 
immigration status, perceived immigration status, or 
attempts to secure immigration status that— 
‘‘(A) impacts or results in the removal of 
the person from the United States; 
‘‘(B) leads to the loss of immigration sta-
tus; or 
‘‘(C) causes the person seeking to apply for 
an immigration benefit to lose an opportunity 
to apply for such an immigration benefit that 
would have provided immigration status and for 
which a person was prima facie eligible; or 
‘‘(3) demands or retains money or anything else 
of value for services fraudulently performed or not 
performed or withholds or threatens to withhold 
services promised to be performed, 
shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 
1 year, or both. 
‘‘(d) GRAVITY OF OFFENSE.— 
‘‘(1) CUMULATIVE LOSS.—Any person who vio-
lates subsection (a), (b), or (c) such that the cumu-
lative loss to all victims exceeds $10,000 may be im-
prisoned not more than 3 years, fined under this 
title, or both. 
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‘‘(2) RETALIATION.—Any person who violates 
subsection (a) or (b) and causes the harm described 
in subsection (c)(2) may be imprisoned not more 
than 3 years, fined under this title, or both. 
‘‘(e) INFORMATION SHARING AND ENFORCEMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Immigrant and Em-
ployee Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division of 
the Department of Justice— 
‘‘(A) shall have primary enforcement re-
sponsibility for this section and shall be con-
sulted prior to a United States Attorney initi-
ating an action under this section; 
‘‘(B) shall establish procedures to receive 
and investigate complaints of fraudulent immi-
gration schemes from the public that are con-
sistent with the procedures for receiving and in-
vestigating complaints of unfair immigration-re-
lated employment practices; and 
‘‘(C) shall maintain and publish on the 
internet, information aimed at protecting con-
sumers from fraudulent immigration schemes, 
as well as a list of individuals who have been 
convicted of unlawful conduct under this section 
or have been found by a State or Federal agen-
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cy to have unlawfully provided immigration 
services. 
‘‘(2) SPECIAL UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS.— 
The Attorney General shall establish no fewer than 
15 Special United States Attorney positions in dis-
tricts the Attorney General determines, after ana-
lyzing data following each decennial census, to be 
most affected by the fraud described in subsections 
(a), (b), and (c). 
‘‘(3) RESTITUTION.—There shall be deposited 
in the Crime Victims Fund established under section 
1402 of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (34 
U.S.C. 20101) any restitution ordered for an offense 
under this section if the victim of such offense can-
not reasonably be located. 
‘‘(f) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this section, 
or the application of such a provision to any person or 
circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 
of this section and the application of the remaining provi-
sions of this section to any person or circumstance shall 
not be affected thereby. 
‘‘(g) IMMIGRATION LAWS.—In this section, the term 
‘immigration laws’ has the meaning given that term in sec-
tion 101(a)(17) of the Immigration and Nationality Act 
(8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(17)).’’. 
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(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for chapter 47 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘1041. Schemes to defraud persons in any matter arising under immigration 
laws.’’. 
Æ 
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