Since 2017, ILC has worked with a client who had been taken advantage of by a notario, an individual that was neither an attorney nor a DOJ representative. The notario had charged the client a fee and submitted an incomplete DACA application, resulting in a denial and the loss of their DACA status during a volatile time in which DACA could not be renewed.  Without their DACA status, the client lost their scholarship, employment, and she became homeless.

The policy regarding DACA renewal has since changed, and ILC was able to help the client renew her DACA status. Importantly, because DACA does not provide a pathway to citizenship, ILC’s legal team will help an individual seek more permanent forms of immigration relief, if eligible.  In this client’s case, after three years of persistent advocacy, ILC’s Paralegal Jesus Ramirez and a team of attorneys and DOJ accredited representatives, obtained and executed a U certification form for this client. The client will be able to apply for U visa status, and if the U visa application is approved this will provide a pathway to citizenship.

It is important that DACA recipients seek help from an attorney or DOJ accredited individuals to help with immigration-related forms. You can find information about how to determine if an individual is an attorney or DOJ accredited representative and how to report the unauthorized practice of law in ILC’s Rights and Planning Guide, available here.