What is the Immigrant Service Enforcement Act?
A new law protecting immigrant New Yorkers going in effect February 2, 2015.
The Immigrant Assistance Services Enforcement Act (IASEA) creates new protections and rights for
immigrants seeking legal assistance and new penalties and restrictions against those who seek to
defraud immigrant New Yorkers. It was signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo on August 6th,
2014. It was sponsored by Assemblyman Marcos Crespo and Senator Ruben Diaz.
The IASEA does the following:
1. Clarifies that only attorneys and non-lawyers certified to practice immigration by the U.S.
Immigration Courts (“BIA Accredited Representatives”) can provide legal services.
2. To protect against abuse, imposes strict consumer protection rules on other services, such as
translation and document gathering, including:
a. Providing customers with clearly written and translated service contracts, which note a
customer’s right to cancel the services, detail the rights of a customer in their interaction
with the provider, and list valuable information, such as itemized fees and how to obtain a
referral to a qualified attorney; and
b. Requiring clearly displayed, worded, and translated signs and advertisements, that avoid
the use specifically misleading terms (such as “notario” or “immigration specialist”), and
note a customer’s rights as well as the fact that the provider is not an attorney or BIA
Accredited Representative.
c. Requiring that both the contracts and the signs include the NYS New American Hotline
where customers can get a free legal referral AND file a complaint.
3. Lists several prohibited acts that have been known to commonly occur and often severely harm
immigrants, including:
a. Threatening to report customers without legal immigration status to the government;
b. Promising special favors from government officials in a customer’s case;
c. Charging for assistance with immigration benefits that are not yet available to the public;
d. Failing to notify a customer when an immigration application has been filed;
e. Charging fees for attorney referrals; and
f. Lying to customers about their immigration options to encourage purchasing of services.
4. Allows those who have been wronged to sue the ISP to get their money back.
5. Raises the penalty for violating the Act to $10,000 for each act of fraud.
6. Creates a new crime of “Immigrant Assistance Services Fraud,” that is defined as a misdemeanor,
as well as a felony, depending on the severity of the incident.
7. Creates the New York State Office for New Americans as a permanent state agency with a
mandate to assist communities in accessing legal, ESOL, civic, and other programs and to otherwise
address the needs of New York’s immigrant communities, including concerns relating to fraud. New
York is the first state to have an Office for New Americans become a permanent part of state
government.