His case did not advance for five years, and the amount his defender charged him was stratospheric
Camilo García, a Colombian asylum seeker achieved what he never imagined, that an immigration attorney who only entertained his case and put him on the brink of deportation, will return him $ 17,000 of $ 25,000 that he paid him for five years with much effort and deprivation.
“I fled Colombia and came to this country in search of safety”Says 32-year-old Camilo.
He arrived in the United States in 2012, but due to ignorance he began his asylum case until 2013.
He went to see an Orange County immigration attorney, whose name is withheld, who offered to take his asylum case to him for the sum of $ 25,000. “He asked me for a down payment of $ 5,000 and the rest to be paid in amounts of $ 250 per month. But when I got the work permit, she asked me to give her $ 5,000 in one go. “
Camilo was paying the lawyer on time for five years until 2018, and stopped when he only had $ 500 left to cover the entire charge for his political asylum.
“The truth is I was able to make those payments because my in-laws lent me for the initial $ 5,000, and I went into debt with my credit cards to make the monthly payments on time.. It was a lot of stress that I went through to pay on time, only the happiness that the birth of my daughter brought made up for the anguish ”.
I did not see progress
Despite the sacrifices he made to pay, the Colombian was not happy with the work of his lawyer.
“The asylum petition was submitted late, after a year. Every time I called to ask about the progress of my case, the law office answered me reluctantly. I was never able to speak to the attorney. The deal was always through a Hispanic paralegal”.
Not to mention that she was thought to call because the law firm always managed to add additional charges, or they put many obstacles.
The worst thing happened when during a court hearing, they sent him a lawyer he had never seen before. “Not only did he not know him, but he was sleeping. They didn’t prepare me for the interview either. “
Inside, Camilo thought that maybe everything was fine, and nothing serious was happening.
It was by chance of fate that the immigration lawyer, Sergio Siderman, arrived at his work and when he trusted him, he told him what he was experiencing.
Absurd charge
The lawyer turned his back when he told him what he was paying.
“In the 23 years that I have been a lawyer, I have never heard of so much being charged for an asylum case. They normally cost between $ 7,000 and $ 12,000 depending on the stage of the case, ”says attorney Siderman.
He was also struck by seeing that Camilo had been with the lawyer for a long time, and nothing was moving.
“Although Migration moves very slowly, it was already too much time and especially his case did not advance. So I told him I had a problem ”.
When Camilo decided to change lawyers and go with Siderman, it was the lawyer himself who wrote to his colleague and asked him to return the money.
“He returned $ 17,000 because he deducted the office expenses that he supposedly made. I charged Camilo $ 8,000 for the entire case, ”explains the lawyer.
He considers that the former defender returned most of the money because he understood that if he did not return it, he would have problems with the Bar Association and it would be more expensive to recover his professional license.
“He made a lot of mistakes. He missed the deadline to present evidence and caused Camilo harm to the point of putting him in deportation order, and about to have his case closed.or”.
Nor did he comply with the order to appear before a judge for the order to remove him from the country.
The process continues
Siderman says that Camilo has a hearing before the judge in November to present his evidence and oral arguments about the persecution he suffered in Colombia.
“It has a very good case, and it is the example of why political asylum exists. He faces danger and threats against him and his family from the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and the government of his country”.
He even mentions that Camilo received an invitation to his funeral as a real warning of the risk he was running.
However, note that no matter how good your case is, if the defense attorney does not pay attention and neglect the details and the government’s demands.
“These mistakes could have resulted in a deportation for Camilo.”
Attorney Siderman says that many immigrants don’t know they can change lawyers whenever they want.
“A bad sign is when such large amounts are requested for a case. It’s stupid. The best lawyers who have done these processes many times do not charge as much. I have done more than 1,000 asylum cases ”.
It was like a lottery
When Camilo received the check for $ 17,000 from his former attorney, he couldn’t believe it.
“I’ve never had so much money together,” he says.
He took advantage of the money to pay everything to his new lawyer, and he got rid of his credit card debt that kept him from sleeping.
After the experience, Camilo says that the best advice for immigrants looking for a lawyer is to go see several before deciding on one. “Seek various opinions, I did not. The previous attorney charged me $ 1,000 just for the first consultation”.
They also ask that if they are not fluent in English, take advantage of the options they have as translators in the hearings.
Camilo says that now he does understand the stage of his application for political asylum.
“In my hands is the future of my family, my wife and my daughter. My greatest wish is to be able to sleep peacefully without worrying about my safety. I want to be a citizen of this country. I don’t want to go back to living in fear”.
Attorney Siderman plans to use in immigration court the evidence of persecution in Colombia, but also Camilo’s experience as a victim of immigration fraud and neglect by his former defender.
Siderman says he directly demanded reimbursement from the former legal representative because perhaps if Camilo had done it directly he would not have had the same success.
And it ends by calling on the migrant community to lose their fear and report if they have been victims of immigration scams. “Many could be pleasantly surprised by recovering part of their money and obtaining evidence that they have been victims of immigration fraud.”
The lawyer considers that although Camilo recovered part of what was paid to the other defender, he could still accuse him before the Bar Association. “You may be afraid to file a complaint now, and think it might hurt your case, but you may want to do it when you get your asylum in the country and feel safe.”
