Martinez Barroso v. Gonzales

I. BACKGROUND

Barroso is a native of Mexico who entered the United States in 1985. In 1998, he decided, in his words, to “put an end to his unregulated stay in the United States” and went in search of an attorney. He made the ill-fated choice of retain- ing Abad “Nork” Cabrera (“Cabrera”). Although Cabrera told Barroso that he was an attorney, he was not; instead he was a “notarial,” or an immigration consultant. These people, also called “notarios,” are notorious in Southern California for preying on the immigrant community.2 The Immigration Judge (“IJ”) in this case went so far as to call them “poison.”

Throughout Barroso’s case, he thought that Cabrera was his lawyer. He retained Cabrera, provided him with all of his doc- umentation, consulted with him, and paid him for legal ser- vices. He was under the impression that the other attorneys he met on the courthouse steps who appeared in immigration court on his behalf all worked for Cabrera. Barroso may have had licensed lawyers appear with him in court, but all of his legal advice came from Cabrera. Indeed, the last two lawyers 1 Because we are remanding the case on this ground, we do not reach Barroso’s ineffective…