Immigration Scams Blossom As Relief Nears For Undocumented Young People

FILE - In this Nov. 15, 2011 file photo, 17-year-old Diane Martell of Bessemer, Ala., center, leads protesters in a march outside the Alabama Capitol in Montgomery, Ala. during a demonstration against the state's immigration laws. Diane says she is tired of watching the fear in her father's face every time he drives, tired of her mother begging her not to walk to school on the days the ICE van is parked down the street, tired of being told that she cannot get a driver's license, or a job or maybe even a college education because she doesn't have a Social Security number. "We are human beings," Martell says. "We are not criminals, and we are not aliens and we cannot just stay silent." (AP Photo/Dave Martin) (AP2011)

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 15: Students and supporters march to call for amnesty for illegal immigrants on April 15, 2006 in Los Angeles, California. The 3,000 people who marched through downtown to City Hall particularly oppose House bill HR 4437 by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin that would increase penalties for immigrant smuggling, beef up penalties for undocumented immigrants who re-enter the United States, and require employers to report Social Security numbers to the Department of Homeland Security. The march is dedicated to Ontario, California student Anthony Soltero, 14, who committed suicide on March 30 after a school administrator allegedly told him he would be fined and jailed for participating in a student walkout in support of undocumented immigrants rights on March 28. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) (2006 Getty Images)

Days after President Barack Obama in June said his administration would grant relief to certain young, undocumented immigrants, a Southern California business posted flyers and mailed postcards laying out a very Los Angeles option.

Pay $6,000 and your name could be one of just a few on a priority list that federal officials evaluating applications would then approve.

There were just a few problems: The government's deferred action directive doesn’t include the administrative equivalent of a velvet rope or a VIP room. The federal agency that will ultimately decide who gets to claim a two-year, renewable deportation reprieve and work permit hasn’t released an application form and won’t do so until Aug. 15. And, until late Friday, it wasn’t even clear exactly who would be eligible to apply.

But across the country, tax preparation services, lawyers, insurance agents, notaries, interpreters and business operators of unknown professional origin have began advertising deferred action specials, lists and programs. Some are outright scams, community activists and government officials said.

Read the whole story in The Huffington Post