Experts warn of immigration scam promising legal status in Canada

Published: 2007-10-05

DETROIT (CNS) -- Unscrupulous operators are misleading some immigrants in the United States into false hopes about their chances of being granted legal status in Canada, Detroit-area immigration advisers warned. The tactics of those capitalizing on the hopes of such immigrants clearly run counter to Catholic teaching on the just treatment of migrants, said immigration attorney Viviana Lande, director of Community Immigration Legal Services for the Archdiocese of Detroit. "The church abhors taking advantage of anyone's desperation and lack of knowledge of immigration laws," Lande said Oct. 4. Not only are people being charged hundreds or thousands of dollars for inaccurate or misleading advice and for forms that are available free of charge, but they are unnecessarily incurring the cost of the trip to Canada and placing themselves in a worse position with U.S. authorities if they return to this country. "This misinformation is harmful to families, and is a real tragedy," Lande said. She and others who work with immigrants are urging their counterparts in other parts of the United States to spread the word to be wary of misleading information concerning Canadian polices.

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