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Q&A
Council Member Rita C. Joseph questions DCWP on immigration services fraud prevention efforts
1:30:49
ยท
3 min
Council Member Rita C. Joseph engages in a Q&A session with representatives from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) regarding their efforts to combat immigration services fraud. The discussion covers the protecting immigrant New Yorkers task force, DCWP's handling of fraud cases, complaint processes, and inter-agency collaboration.
- DCWP representatives confirm their participation in the Pioneer Task Force meetings and discuss their strategic approach to handling fraud complaints.
- The council member inquires about the number of complaints received since January 2025 and the steps taken when a complaint is filed.
- The discussion touches on collaboration with other agencies, including district attorneys' offices and the attorney general, for handling more complex cases.
Rita C. Joseph
1:30:49
You, chairs.
1:30:51
Quick question around protecting immigrant New Yorkers task force.
1:30:56
Does DCW and Moya still meet with members of this task?
1:31:01
Would it be help if not, would it be helpful for the task force to reconvene?
Vilda Vera Mayuga
1:31:08
We participate in the in the Pioneer Task Force.
Rita C. Joseph
1:31:11
How many how many meetings have you had so far this year?
Carlos Ortiz
1:31:17
The Pioneer Task Force is I think it's a separate organization.
1:31:20
They've had two meetings I believe this year.
Rita C. Joseph
1:31:22
And you've and you've attended the meetings and shared resources with them?
Carlos Ortiz
1:31:25
Yes.
1:31:26
We've been mean I think we've been a part of the Piney Task Force since I started the agency almost nine years ago.
Rita C. Joseph
1:31:32
With this landscape right now, how with the federal effective, how does DCWP handle immigration service fraud cases with the landscape changing every minute because everything is something new?
1:31:43
What we knew today is not is not what's happening tomorrow.
1:31:46
So how are you handling that on the on the ground?
Vilda Vera Mayuga
1:31:49
As soon as we get a complaint, you know, one of the things that we were sharing earlier is that our team knows to refer it to an attorney so that we can look into it further without doing outreach to the business right away because our experience is that they'll disappear as soon as they get outreach from our government agencies.
1:32:07
So we want to be very strategic about it.
1:32:10
So that's one way that we're working with it.
1:32:13
You know, obviously we want to do more education.
1:32:15
It's part of the reason we're supportive of the bill to get more outreach done so that individuals know to come forward and let us know of anything that they're seeing.
1:32:23
And then at the same time as our inspectors are out conducting their fieldwork, if they identify also other issues, they will bring them back for us to make an assessment and see if it warrants a different approach.
Rita C. Joseph
1:32:34
Since January of twenty twenty five till today, how many complaints have you received?
Vilda Vera Mayuga
1:32:39
I think it's eight.
1:32:41
Eight complaints.
Rita C. Joseph
1:32:42
And how do you go about I wasn't here for the beginning of the meeting, sorry about that, but how do you go about when you receive a complaint, what are the steps that you take?
Michael Tiger
1:32:52
So as the commissioner mentioned, council member, if a complaint comes in through 311 or DCWP's own portal, it goes to our consumer services unit, which is our intake unit for consumer complaints.
1:33:05
And for this category, all the immigration service provider complaints go to a lawyer who will assess the complaint, see if we have enough information and pursue an investigation, reach out to any contact provided with the case, and also determine whether this is a complaint that, while there are facts, would be better handled by another agency like a district attorney's office, the attorney general.
1:33:29
One thing we were talking about earlier was that we are redoubling our efforts to have good relationships with the the five district attorney's office, with the attorney general.
1:33:40
So if we think this might be part of a bigger criminal investigation, we know that we can send it there.
1:33:46
And likewise, the district attorneys can send us stuff if it's something that's more ripe for civil enforcement.
Rita C. Joseph
1:33:54
Is any of these cases ever involved NYPD?
Michael Tiger
1:33:59
No.
1:34:00
I mean, not in recent memory.
Rita C. Joseph
1:34:02
Okay.
1:34:03
Thank you, chairs.