Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced a series of statewide public forums to provide Californians applying for U.S. Citizenship with information on the application process and how to avoid immigration services fraud.

The forums are in partnership with Univision Los Angeles, the Service Employees International Union of California and iAmerica.

The forums are a continued effort by the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Enforcement Section (CRES), which last year hosted and presented at forums across the state to warn immigrant communities of scams targeting immigrants and con artists perpetrating immigration services fraud. At the forums, CRES will also educate attendees about wage theft, a crime that is often targeted at immigrant populations.

“The first step to protecting immigrant communities from scams is to provide education on how to avoid them,” said Attorney General Harris. “These forums are a crucial opportunity for immigrants to learn about the benefits and responsibilities of U.S. citizenship and learn how to avoid becoming a victim of wage theft and immigration services scams.”

The public forums will be hosted in eight California cities including: Los Angeles, Riverside, Fresno, Sacramento, San Jose, San Marcos, Oakland and Modesto. The statewide public forums will provide community members an opportunity to receive information about the citizenship process, set up an individual appointment for free assistance with citizenship applications, and hear from the Attorney General’s Office on how individuals can avoid being a victim of immigration services scams and wage theft.

“SEIU members are proud to partner with Attorney General Harris to protect Californians and aid immigrant families in achieving their dreams of U.S. Citizenship,” said SEIU California President Laphonza Butler. “Together we are working to break down barriers that stand in the way of immigrants initiating their pathway towards citizenship. We hope that the steps we are taking as a community will help empower the close to 2.5 million immigrants eligible to naturalize in California initiate the process and make their voices heard in our nation’s democratic process.”

The first forum will be held this Saturday in Los Angeles. Information about upcoming forums will be announced in the coming days.

Forum Details:

Los Angeles:

Saturday, Jan. 30 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Mendez High School

1200 Plaza Del Sol E

Los Angeles, Calif. 90033

Major changes to United States immigration policy, like those contained in President Barack Obama’s Immigration Accountability Executive Actions announced in November 2014, often lead to con artists emerging to prey on vulnerable consumers seeking help with immigration services.

Attorney General Harris issued a consumer alert informing Californians of these scams and providing tips to help consumers protect themselves. In addition, the Attorney General issued a consumer alert informing Californians about possible scams targeting immigrants attempting to obtain a driver’s license under Assembly Bill 60 (Alejo, 2013).

On Dec. 3, 2015, California, along with 15 other States and the District of Columbia, joined an amicus curiae brief authored by the State of Washington supporting the United States’ petition for certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, to overturn a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking President Obama’s November 2014 executive actions on immigration. The court granted review and it will hear the case later this term. The States’ brief argued that, by preventing these policies from going into effect, the injunction harms States by preventing undocumented immigrants from working and generating taxes, by decreasing public safety and by creating social harms such as displacing the undocumented parents of U.S. citizen children.