Nearly 6,000 Immigrants Accuse Former Attorney of Malpractice That Left Cases in Ruins

Nearly 6,000 immigrants who sought legal help to stay in the United States now say a former attorney’s mistakes and alleged fraud have left their cases damaged — and many facing deportation.

A lawsuit accuses former immigration attorney Alexandra Lozano of legal malpractice, alleging she misled clients into filing improper applications, used employees without proper credentials, and had clients sign blank papers so their signatures could be copied onto documents they never reviewed.

Diana Barajas, a Washington state resident originally from Mexico, paid more than $13,000 to Lozano’s law office in 2021 to help her obtain a green card. After waiting five years, her application was denied because it lacked a required handwritten signature — a mistake she believes her legal team should have caught.

“It might sound like a simple signature, but it can leave you in deportation proceedings with many problems, more expenses, more lawyer contracts, and now depression, anxiety — everything,” Barajas said.

Barajas, who works two jobs to support her family in Seattle, says she trusted the law office from the start. She remembers walking into the office and seeing religious images, including the Virgin of Guadalupe.

“As a Hispanic person, I’m very much a Catholic and a believer in the Virgin of Guadalupe, and that’s how she gained more clients — they trusted her,” Barajas said.

Attorney Omar Barraza, who represents dozens of former clients in the lawsuit, says Lozano — who branded herself on social media as the “Abogada de los Milagros,” or “Lawyer of Miracles” — exploited that trust by filing immigration petitions clients either didn’t qualify for or didn’t fully understand.

According to the lawsuit, Lozano routinely submitted applications for humanitarian protections, including Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) petitions and T visas, without clients’ knowledge or eligibility. The lawsuit also alleges she relied on employees who lacked proper legal credentials and engaged in unethical practices.

“She utilized a system where people signed blank pieces of paper, and she cut and pasted those signatures onto the forms,” Barraza said.

Former clients reportedly paid between $5,000 and $15,000 for legal services. Lozano operated immigration law offices across the West Coast and had more than 35,000 clients when she resigned. In Fresno, 26 former clients have registered to join the lawsuit.

Lozano permanently surrendered her Washington law license in May rather than face disciplinary proceedings after the state bar accused her of fraud. She denied any wrongdoing. She is also under investigation by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate.

Barraza says the alleged misconduct has damaged the credibility of immigration petitions filed through Lozano’s firm.

“We are going to see thousands and thousands of people denied because they did business with her,” he said. “The government no longer places much credibility in the applications she filed.”

Some former clients who left the country for required consular processing were not allowed to return and now find themselves stuck in their home countries. Others have been placed in deportation proceedings.

Barajas has since hired a new attorney and reapplied for her green card, but says the uncertainty surrounding her immigration status continues to weigh heavily on her. Her appeal was recently denied, and she’s now waiting to see if she’ll be sent to immigration court.

Looking back, she says she now recognizes warning signs she overlooked: she was promised a guaranteed outcome, never met her attorney in person, and never physically signed some of her immigration documents.

“I hope speaking publicly about my experience will help prevent others from facing similar situations,” she said.

The State Bar of California says it has authority only over attorneys licensed in California. Because Lozano was licensed in Washington rather than California, the agency says its disciplinary jurisdiction doesn’t extend to her. The California Attorney General’s office did not respond to questions about what actions are being taken to investigate the allegations or protect California victims.

The Breakdown

• Nearly 6,000 former clients have joined a lawsuit against former immigration attorney Alexandra Lozano, alleging legal malpractice, fraud, and improper filing practices.
• The lawsuit claims Lozano filed immigration applications clients didn’t qualify for or understand, including Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) petitions and T visas, without clients’ knowledge.
• The lawsuit alleges Lozano had clients sign blank papers so their signatures could be copied onto documents they never reviewed, and used employees who lacked proper legal credentials.
• Former clients reportedly paid between $5,000 and $15,000 for services. Many now face damaged immigration cases, and some have been placed in deportation proceedings.
• Lozano surrendered her Washington law license in May rather than face disciplinary proceedings. She is under investigation by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
• In Fresno, 26 former clients have registered to join the lawsuit.

What This Means for You

This story is about professional accountability in a system that affects thousands of Fresno-area families — and it’s a reminder that trust, once broken, leaves real people carrying the cost. The California Attorney General’s office declined to answer what, if anything, is being done for California victims. That silence is itself information: it tells you how much priority this kind of harm to immigrant communities is getting from the state’s chief law-enforcement office.

What You Can Do

Former clients who believe their immigration cases were mishandled by Lozano’s law office can find information about joining the lawsuit at the attorney’s website. The California Attorney General’s office says people can report immigration scams at oag.ca.gov/report or contact their local District Attorney. People seeking legitimate legal help at low or no cost can contact a legal aid organization at www.lawhelpca.org.

What to Watch

Attorney Omar Barraza advises immigrants seeking legal representation to watch for warning signs: attorneys who guarantee immigration outcomes, firms where clients rarely speak directly with the attorney handling their case, or requests to sign documents without reviewing them first. If someone feels like they were a victim of a crime, Barraza encourages reporting it — in some instances, people may qualify for U visas, and courts have been working with some victims affected by this malpractice.

The lawsuit also raises a harder question about oversight: when a professional licensed in one state operates offices across others, whose job is it to stop the harm before thousands of people are damaged? The State Bar of California says it has no authority over Lozano because she was licensed in Washington, not California. The California Attorney General’s office wouldn’t say what it’s doing. That gap — the space between jurisdictions where no one clearly owns the responsibility — is worth watching closely, because it’s the same gap that allowed this to go on as long as it did.