When L. visited the law offices of Kofi Amankwaa in 2022, she thought her two decade-long dream of securing a lawful immigration status would finally become a reality. Amankwaa, a Bronx immigration attorney well known in the Mexican community, assured her during the meeting that her son, who was 24 at the time, could petition for her because he was a U.S. Citizen. “I felt so much happiness to have found someone who could help me, and to be able to see my mother after 27 years of not being able to hug her,” the 49-year-old mother told Documented in Spanish.
She remembers walking out of his office relieved, thinking her path toward stability had finally begun. But her hope began to unravel in the summer of 2023 when L. learned from the news that Amankwaa had been accused of fraud.
Since then, L., who asked Documented to withhold her first name due to the sensitivity of her case, has been living with panic attacks and severe anxiety, brought on by not only the uncertainty of her immigration status but also by the betrayal of a lawyer who she, like many others, had trusted.
In Feb. 2025, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District sentenced Bronx attorney Kofi Amankwaa to 70 months in prison for running a years-long scheme to file fraudulent immigration applications under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). VAWA, first enacted in 1994, allows certain non-citizen victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or abuse by a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident relative to self-petition for immigration relief, which can provide a pathway to lawful permanent status.
Amankwaa misled hundreds of immigrants, primarily Mexican, by telling them that their U.S. citizen children could petition for them. Instead, unknown to the clients, Amankwaa and his office were filing VAWA applications, and instructed the clients to sign petitions falsely claiming abuse by U.S. citizen relatives. From FY2017 to FY2023, Amankwaa filed approximately 2,346 Form I-360 VAWA Petitions that were withdrawn, abandoned, or denied — for perspective, his office was responsible for 47% of withdrawn VAWA applications nationwide.
Also Read: Bronx Lawyer Arrested for Defrauding Immigrants and U.S. Government
Since February 2024, L. says she has consulted about 20 immigration lawyers about her options. Some told her that they could not take her case, and others asked for a $5,000 deposit to keep track of her case and represent her if her case is sent to immigration court.
Other immigrants caught in his scheme also told Documented they have been left adrift since his sentencing — with no legal guidance and no resources, some facing deportation orders and others considering leaving the country on their own.
With the Trump administration’s increase in court detentions and crackdown on fraudulent immigration cases, many of Kofi’s victims say they feel they were used by the justice system to convict Amankwaa, only to be abandoned afterward.
“They only focused on what Kofi did, but why didn’t they do something for us so that we can protect ourselves?” L. said. She added that she is part of a WhatsApp group with other victims of Amankwaa who have shared that they received court hearings and even orders of deportation. “The worst thing is that you spend thirty years here and because of someone else’s mistake, they deport you. Why didn’t they protect all the victims?”
She explained that Amankwaa, without her knowledge, filed a VAWA petition which got approved. After that, Amankwaa submitted her Adjustment of Status application (Form I-485), which allows approved VAWA applicants to apply for legal permanent residency.
“I have seen that my case [in USCIS] has moved to three different officers this year. I feel afraid because the last notice they supposedly sent, I do not have access to it. I do not know what is going on with the case,” L. said.
Her 27-year-old son, who has a developmental condition that limits his functioning to that of a much younger age, was included in the VAWA petition. She explained that she would never have listed her son’s name if she had understood that the petition was accusing him of violence against her.
In past months she said she experienced three panic attacks and has been seeing the doctor to help manage her stress. When her children ask her why she is worried, she doesn’t tell them the real reason. She says she does not want to add more worry to her son and 13-year-old daughter, especially because her husband was deported in July of last year for reasons unrelated to Amankwaa.
“I am the only one left as the head of the family,” she said. “I feel bad thinking that they have already experienced [deportation] with their father and they might have to go through it with me too.”
As Documented reported, once VAWA applications are denied, immigration authorities can issue Notices to Appear, which require immigrants to appear in court and fight their deportation case.
The current situation at the courts, where ICE agents have repeatedly and sometimes violently arrested courtgoers, as well as the recent crackdown on fraudulent cases by the immigration agencies, have added to the panic, she said.
According to a press release on Sept. 30, USCIS’ most recent operation, dubbed Operation Twin Shield, found evidence of fraud, non-compliance, or public safety or national security concerns in 275 cases. “USCIS is declaring an all-out war on immigration fraud,” said USCIS Director Joseph B. Edlow in the statement. “We will relentlessly pursue everyone involved in undermining the integrity of our immigration system and laws.”
Without any legal assistance, L. says she cannot stop thinking about immigration agents coming for her at home or asking her to show up at the court. “There are times when I am really depressed when I think about what might happen that I don’t want to go out, or I only go out when it is necessary and urgent.”
Similarly, E. C. O., who also has an Adjustment of Status petition pending with USCIS that resulted from Amankwaa’s VAWA claim, said seeing people being detained in courts has made her consider self-deporting to Mexico, where she migrated from 35 years ago — even if it means that she will be barred from returning to the U.S. for 10 years for entering the country unlawfully.
“I tell them [the family] that I can come back, but they tell me that it has been so many years and we have never been separated. Even if my children can visit me in Mexico for vacation, we can make those plans, but it’s still a lot of years,” E. C. O., who requested Documented only use her initials due to privacy concerns, said.
She explained that her son, who is referenced in her petition, is 27 years old — she also has two other children, ages 15 and 11. In March of this year E. C. O. said she let her Employment Authorization Document (EDA) expire because she was told by the prosecutors and lawyers not to use the work permits to avoid perpetuating the fraud. Without a work permit, she said she has been unable to continue her home health aide course she had started.
“I spend my time here at home. I cook for my children but they buy everything. I send them shopping and I try to go out as little as possible because of fear,” the 49-year-old said. “If they deport me, I am never going to have a chance to come back. And that is without doing it [the fraud], all because I trusted the lawyer.”
She said her husband also has a VAWA petition that was filed through Amankwaa.
‘We have not gotten anything, not even an update’
In the plea agreement, Amankwaa agreed to pay $16,503,425 in restitution to his victims. However, one of his victims, Perez, 25, told Documented that she has not received any notifications from the federal government — which had filed a lawsuit against Amankwaa.
“We were just waiting ’cause I understand these things take time, but not even like an email or something saying like, ‘Oh, we’re working on this,’ at least some sort of update,” Perez, who requested Documented only use her last name, said.
Perez says she is in a WhatsApp group with 30 other victims of Amankwaa who have also shared that they have not received any restitution nor guidance on how to proceed with their immigration cases.
The press release of the sentencing also included an email that victims should contact to receive restitution. L. told Documented that she had not received any response.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment on Documented’s request regarding the victim outreach conducted post sentencing, the resources available for victims, and the number of victims that have received restitution from the agreement.
But beyond the restitution, Perez says that she wants her name removed from the files sent to the immigration agencies and relief for her mom, who was given a deportation order after her VAWA application was denied. “I think a lot of us are frustrated because we thought we saw some hope, that at least the parents should get a U Visa, and that the ones that were deported should be able to come back and be given amnesty or something like that,” she explained.
“Generally speaking, being the victim of fraud is not a U-visa qualifying crime, so they can’t apply for a U-visa,” said Camille Mackler, policy expert and immigration attorney. She told Documented that immigration agencies do not consider being defrauded as a valid excuse and place the responsibility on those who signed the petition.
“It is possible that the interviewing officer, or whoever is looking at the case, will take [Amankwaa’s fraud] more seriously into consideration because it’s clearly part of the patterned practice and all of that,” Mackler said. “But that’s not a given. And in this current administration, I honestly don’t know what will happen.”
She added that when people are sent to immigration court and given a deportation order, they can appeal within 30 days.
Perez says she is very concerned for her mom — who works as a street vendor — because her information is already in the system, and she could become a target under Trump’s mass deportation agenda. “They are really scared and the problems are getting worse and worse,” she said. “Now they have to go into more hiding and who knows what this administration wants to do with that. What if there’s a warrant out for my mom?” She added that she has seen other people in the group chat share similar concerns, especially those who have gotten notices to appear in court.
你知道吗？非公民办理驾照时的这个错误可能会导致选民欺诈
E. C. O. and L. both expressed fears of receiving a Notice To Appear sometime soon, with both citing reports of immigrants being detained in the courts after attending their court hearings.
“[Amankwaa] left us in horrible circumstances, because now we are not sure what is going to happen,” L. said, and pointed to the prosecutor’s office as partially to blame. “[They] sentenced him and took his license and everything but they didn’t leave us with anything to protect ourselves.”
If you need legal assistance with immigration matters contact the Office for New Americans or the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.
