We have been dealing with these hack notarios for years in NJ. The New Jersey Lawyer Newspaper interviewed me awhile back on this very topic.

USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas discussed the initiative with a group at the National Association of Attorney General conference in Washington. Mayorkas asked the attorney generals for help in targeting fake immigration attorneys, which are better known as “notarios.” Some of these “notarios” fraudulently act as lawyers and charge high fees while giving fraudulent advice to people who seek legal residency, citizenship or other immigration relief. Kirsten Kreymann, pro bono director at the Public Law Center in Santa Ana, said she was optimistic about the announcement. The center gives educational workshops, warning about “notarios” and bad immigration attorneys who make lofty promises. Instead of getting help, many unsuspecting clients become deported, Kreymann said. The center sees many cases in which immigrants are scammed out of thousands of dollars in addition to facing deportation, she said. Jorge-Mario Cabrera, spokesman for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said the organization supports the initiative “if it’s got teeth. Otherwise, it’s just a dog trying to catch its own tail,” Cabrera said. “We need to crack down on these fake attorneys because each year countless victims languish without remedy or are deported and never heard from again as a direct result of shoddy work by unscrupulous attorneys and notaries.” (OC Register)