The State Bar of California is investigating an unlicensed law practice based in El Monte, California, that the State Bar alleges targeted and took advantage of immigrant farmworkers in Santa Maria. The unlicensed law practice, NVE Associates, Inc., is owned and operated by Vincent Enriquez. He first registered NVE with the California Secretary of State on December 31, 2007. However, the NVE website claims the business has been up and running since 1994. The State Bar of California obtained an interim order to shut down the practice, but as of December 3, NVM Associates was still open and taking clients.
The State Bar argued that Enriquez offered legal services to farmworkers in Santa Maria and portrayed himself as an immigration attorney. According to the Ex Parte Application filed by the State Bar, Enriquez claimed he could obtain work permits for several people in Santa Maria and that he could provide them with legal advice. Enriquez then filed asylum applications that led to the initiation of removal proceedings against two of his clients.
One of his clients, Crecencia Camarillo Rojas, paid Enriquez $5,163 to help her obtain a work permit. Rojas said she met Enriquez in Santa Maria at an information session held at her cousin’s home in August 2017. At least eight others were present at the meeting, and two others requested legal services from Enriquez, said Rojas. She recalled Enriquez introducing himself as an attorney and explaining the benefits of filing for political asylum. Enriquez made Rojas believe that she was eligible to apply for political asylum and filed an application on her behalf for an initial fee of $1,500.