BERWYN, Ill. () — Alexandra Lozano held herself out as someone who could deliver a path to citizenship for tens of thousands of immigrants, even branding herself as a “miracle” attorney, according to a newly filed lawsuit.
Her reach extended from an office in west suburban Berwyn to locations across the country. The lawsuit also points to a lavish lifestyle that included a multimillion-dollar condominium in Chicago and a pink private jet.
But the central promise made to clients — that they could move toward citizenship — did not come true, the complaint alleges.
“We had been hearing rumors for years about problems with how those cases were being handled. Rumors that things were being fabricated to make people eligible when they were not otherwise eligible,” Vicente “Omar” Barraza told the I-Team.
Barraza represents dozens of people in a Washington state lawsuit accusing former immigration attorney Alexandra Lozano of deceiving clients and taking tens of thousands of dollars from them. According to the lawsuit, they are among roughly 35,000 clients Lozano represented over more than five years.
Immigration attorneys told the I-Team that Lozano earned millions while enjoying an extravagant lifestyle, including a $3 million Chicago condo and a pink private jet used to travel around the country.
“When you go around calling yourself the lawyer of miracles, people don’t look at the fine print,” Barraza said.
The complaint alleges Lozano used the powerful religious imagery of the Virgin of Guadalupe in her advertising and promoted herself as the “miracle lawyer.” At the same time, the lawsuit claims, she charged vulnerable clients tens of thousands of dollars to submit falsified immigration applications under the Violence Against Women Act or to claim they were victims of human trafficking, whether or not they actually qualified for that form of immigration relief.
“All we’ve been seeing for the last probably month are just these victims coming in because now they don’t they don’t know they don’t even know if they have a case,” Chicago immigration attorney Kathleen Vannucci told the I-Team.
She’s seen a flood of former Lozano clients coming to her practice asking for help.
When the Washington State Bar Association opened an investigation into Lozano, she voluntarily gave up her law license rather than face discipline and promptly disappeared.
Video shows Lozano’s desolate Berwyn office days after her practice ceased with dozens of empty cubicles.
“They’re panicking because the problem right now is that some of them didn’t know what was going on in the application. If you withdraw the application or that application is denied, you’re going to be transferred to immigration court for removal proceedings,” Los Angeles immigration attorney Joan De Valle told ABC7 Chicago’s sister station KABC in Los Angeles. She said former Lozano clients could face deportation around the country due to Citizenship and Immigration Services policies.
In a statement to the I-Team Lozano’s attorney, Angelo J. Calfo, said, “Over the course of her career, Alexandra has served thousands of immigrant clients, helping them obtain legal status so that they and their families can work in and contribute to their communities. Her practice has always been to fight for her clients, zealously pursue every lawful option available to them, and support their efforts to build lives in this country. The results speak for themselves-thousands of those clients achieved legal status based on Alexandra’s and her firm’s advocacy.
Alexandra denies the allegations that have been raised by a small number of the thousands of individuals she has represented. She will address those allegations fully in court.
Immigration law and practice have shifted significantly depending on the presidential administration in power. Many of the difficulties being experienced by immigrants who previously applied for legal status stem from sweeping changes the current administration has made to the way immigration laws are enforced and interpreted. Those policy changes, and the disruption they have caused to immigrant families, should not be confused with the quality of legal representation those families previously received.”
Last month United States Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a warning to former Lozano clients saying she was suspended from practicing in immigration court. Another lawsuit, this one a class action, was filed against Lozano last month.
