Immigration attorney accused of swindling thousands across country, including in Chicago area

BERWYN, Ill. (WLS) -- Alexandra Lozano promised a pathway to citizenship for tens of thousands of people, describing herself as a miracle worker, according to a new lawsuit.

She had an office in west suburban Berwyn, a multi-million-dollar condo in the city, and a pink private jet, with other offices across the country.

The catch: That promise of citizenship for her clients never materialized, according to a complaint.

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"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.

He represents dozens of clients in a lawsuit out of Washington State who claim they were conned out of tens of thousands of dollars by former immigration attorney Alexandra Lozano. They're only some of the 35,000 clients Lozano represented over the past five plus years, according to the suit.

Immigration attorneys tell the I-Team Lozano made millions of dollars and lived high on the hog, with a $3-million condo in Chicago and a pink private jet to ferry her across the country.

"When you go around calling yourself the lawyer of miracles, people don't look at the fine print," said Barraza.

Lozano coopted the potent religious symbol of the Virgin of Guadalupe in her marketing, calling herself the "miracle lawyer" when in fact, she was charging some vulnerable clients tens of thousands of dollars to file falsified immigration papers under the violence against women act, or alleging her clients were victims of human trafficking, regardless of whether they qualified for that relief, according to the complaint.

SEE ALSO | Dramatic decline in people becoming new citizens in Chicago area this year, data shows

"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.