Thousands of immigrants got scammed by an attorney exploiting humanitarian visas, lawsuits say

Associated Press (AP) — A Washington state lawyer promised “miracles” to tens of thousands of people immigrants Seeking legal status in the United States.

In its place, Alexandra Lozano Created fake stories about domestic violence and human trafficking for recourse humanitarian visas Without the knowledge of his clients, according to many cases and legal ethics investigations. They say it puts them at risk while taking advantage of immigrants’ desperation to empty their bank accounts. deportation.

He is accused of hiring workers without proper legal credentials and setting up an assembly line system to quickly complete applications, even copying clients’ signatures onto documents they had never seen.

“I entrust my family’s trust to him,” said 30-year-old Gabriel Martinez Garcia. After paying $30,000, he said Lozano cheated on his family and his mother was subject to deportation proceedings, even though she was married to a naturalized U.S. citizen. “We believed in him, but he let us down.”

Lozano’s firm, Luz del Camino Legal, closed this month amid intense allegations. It is permanently He surrendered his law license Rather than face bar discipline, he denies wrongdoing.

While federal data show immigration services scams are rising sharply, Lozano’s alleged scheme stands out for its scale. The bar association says its signature is on more than 53,000 pending cases.

It’s unclear how many cases were fraud or the extent to which their customers were complicit. Those suing him say they have no idea.

The consequences of its collapse hit the immigration system “like a tidal wave,” said Erika Gonzalez, an attorney with the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking.

Trump administration Last year, it began overhauling humanitarian aid programs that Lozano allegedly exploited, claiming a surge in applications since 2020 was a sign of widespread fraud. Management tightened restrictions on programs and slowed processing speeds; Advocacy groups say this would harm legitimate victims.

Visas are for people who have been trafficked or exploited

Lozano specialized in obtaining visas through the Trafficking Victims and Violence Protection Act of 2000 and the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, which covers all genders.

These programs aim to protect victims from having their immigration status weaponized by abusers. Standards of evidence are more flexible, making the system more accessible to victims. But immigration lawyers say it’s also easier for an unscrupulous firm to exploit.

Lozano’s firm surveyed its clients for problems at home or work, then treated them as cases of abuse that did not meet the threshold for those humanitarian programs, according to attorneys who represent dozens of former clients.

Although clients received work permits quickly, they often encountered problems when seeking permanent residence years later and their requests faced increased scrutiny.

Lozano denies mass immigration fraud

Angelo Calfo, an attorney representing Lozano, said clients were expected to review applications before signing and blamed them for misrepresentations.

“Alexandra’s practice has always been to fight for her clients, enthusiastically pursue every legal option available to them, and support their efforts to make a life in this country,” the statement said.

The bar association accused Lozano of fraud in May, and his company closed on June 10. Lozano is being investigated by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services fraud unit, according to emails obtained by The Associated Press. The Department of Homeland Security, which runs immigration enforcement, declined to comment.

At least 920 immigration service scams were reported in 2025, according to Federal Trade Commission data analyzed by the AP; That’s more than the first three years of the Biden administration combined. Experts say that’s likely an undercount, given immigrants’ reluctance to come forward.

Clients say foreign workers, not U.S.-licensed attorneys, handle cases

Lozano is accused of deploying hundreds of employees in Colombia, Mexico and Argentina to provide legal advice to clients and handle visa applications. This means that clients never receive advice from a U.S. licensed attorney.

“Alexandra was telling us to produce more information about harassment because it is not real harassment,” said Rafael Alvarez, who worked for Lozano from 2022 to 2024 in Colombia. “There were many cases that were not true.”

Amy Rios, Lozano’s former chief operating officer, testified that in 2024 the firm earned $1.7 million teaching other law firms its legal strategies regarding humanitarian visas and that “many lawyers are now changing the way they approach immigration law.”

Recent lawsuits accuse at least two firms in Texas and Ohio of copying Lozano’s tactics, which they deny.

Migrants say they don’t know about lies

Erika Sanchez and her husband entered the United States illegally. Many lawyers told them it was not possible to change their status from within the country.

But Lozano promised a successful outcome after a single meeting in 2020, according to the lawsuit the couple filed in May along with seven other former clients.

Sanchez said the couple trusted the firm when it asked for signatures on blank paper and lived on such a tight budget that they paid Lozano more than $32,000.

“We truly believed he did the right thing,” Sanchez said.

She added that they never saw the application the company submitted for her husband, and later learned that this application contained false allegations that her teenage daughter had harassed her. Export procedures are currently ongoing.

Some former customers say they were unable to discover the alleged scam for years. Nora Murillo Moreno said the company told her about the false abuse allegations the day before the green card interview. He panicked.

“Should I say what actually happened or what was written?” Murillo Moreno said. “I knew things didn’t match up.”

Trump administration says increase in visas points to ‘widespread fraud’

Lawyers suing Lozano say his rise parallels a rapid increase in visa applications for trafficking and domestic abuse cases.

Domestic violence claims more than tripled between fiscal years 2020 and 2025, from about 15,000 claims a year to 53,000, according to immigration data. There were also almost twelve times as many applications from parents claiming their children had abused them.

During the same period, allegations of human trafficking increased from approximately 1,000 applications to more than 37,000.

In December, the immigration office said it would overhaul the domestic violence visa program due to “rampant fraud” based on an increase in applications, without providing further evidence. The changes include narrowing definitions of abuse and giving greater weight to evidence provided by alleged abusers.

Cecelia Levin, an attorney with the nonprofit Immigrant Survivors Alliance, said making these visas harder for actual victims of abuse is not the answer. Instead, he said, the Trump administration should focus on enforcing the law against fraudulent lawyers.

Previous ethics complaint was rejected

Immigration lawyers say Lozano’s social media is full of red flags, such as claiming that the Virgin Mary has blessed all of his cases.

In 2023, the Washington bar association said it had concerns about Lozano’s law practice but dismissed an ethics complaint against him on the grounds that he was protected by disclaimers, according to a document obtained by the AP. The complaint alleged deceptive advertising and other abuses.

Bar association spokeswoman Sara Niegowski said the bar association blocked Lozano from practicing law “as quickly as possible.”

Lozano’s former clients are in legal turmoil

Former clients are now scrambling to get their case files from the defunct firm. Hundreds of people attended recent consultations with volunteer attorneys in Washington and Oregon.

Many have applied to join a lawsuit seeking financial compensation for legal malpractice. Another class action lawsuit seeks to recover attorneys’ fees.

Vicente Omar Barraza, one of the attorneys in the malpractice case, said hundreds of former clients have told him they still don’t know what Lozano’s firm wrote in their applications. He worries that many people are losing viable paths to legal status.

Garcia Martinez, who said his mother is in the process of being deported due to Lozano’s mishandling of the case, lives in fear of deportation every day.

“I’m praying really, really hard for him,” Garcia Martinez said. “None of this should have happened.”

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Associated Press writer Jesse Bedayn in Austin, Texas, and data journalist Aaron Kessler in Washington contributed to this report.