Sen. Schmitt: Immigration attorney’s alleged fraud may have affected thousands of cases 

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Missouri, who leads the Senate Anti-Fraud Task Force, is decrying alleged immigration fraud by a now-disbarred Washington state attorney who took cases from around the country.

“Alexandra Lozano had more than 35,000 clients with over 52,000 pending applications when she was exposed,” Schmitt wrote Monday on X. “How many thousands of fraudulent immigration visas were approved?”

“Lozano claimed her firm had an ‘innovative’ and ‘novel approach’ to work ‘milagros’ – Spanish for ‘miracles’ – and gain legal status for clients,” he continued in the thread. “Turns out her ‘innovation’ and ‘milagros’ were just FRAUD.”

Lozano was permanently barred from practicing law in Washington in May when she resigned “in lieu of discipline,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a statement. In June, she was barred from practicing before the Department of Homeland Security and the immigration and appeals courts.

Schmitt described the scope of her alleged scheme and what she did with the money.

“Lozano was making a fortune by defrauding the American people and destroying our sovereignty,” he wrote. “She raked in so much cash that she bought a customized pink private jet worth an estimated $25 million stamped ‘Abogada’ – Spanish for ‘lawyer.’

“To game the system, Lozano’s firm filed false abuse affidavits, fabricated psych evaluations and coached clients to lie. Worse, USCIS approved many of the fraudulent applications.

“And we don’t know the full extent of the fraud – remember, she had tens of thousands of clients.”

Schmitt, who was Missouri’s attorney general before his election to the Senate in 2023, went on to describe how the number of T-visa applications and approvals, designed to help victims of “a severe form” of human trafficking, increased sharply under the Biden administration.

“During the Biden Admin, the number of T-visa applications exploded by over 800%. And under Biden, approval rates jumped from around 60% to nearly 80%. How many were fraudulent cases from this one attorney? USCIS must review her cases and root out the fraud.”

“Immigration fraud is rampant,” he continued. “And as this case shows, much of it is actively encouraged and facilitated by immigration attorneys. That’s why the Trump Admin recently issued a directive to prosecutors to more vigorously enforce the laws against this type of fraud.”

Schmitt, who successfully sued the Biden administration multiple times while serving as Missouri attorney general, called for eliminating fraud “in all its forms – voting, welfare and immigration.”

“The American people will not – and should not – accept these abuses. The Trump Admin is rooting it out. Congress must do our part as well, and my Senate Anti-Fraud Task Force is leading the charge.”

Lozano has not been criminally charged but faces multiple federal civil lawsuits alleging malpractice and fraud. Federal authorities are also investigating.