In orange county, Florida, high-dollar fraud cases usually involve dubious(可疑的；靠不住的) crypto and property deals or tax evasion. But in late April the sheriff announced something stranger. The state attorney-general’s office is accusing a man, his wife and two others of running a fake immigration-law firm out of a boarded-up Orlando storefront. Operating as “Legacy Imigra”, they allegedly charged hundreds of immigrants—mostly Brazilians, in at least four states—for bogus(伪造的；假的) services and filed fraudulent asylum applications on their behalf while holding their real documents ransom. The indictment claims that the foursome swindled aspiring Americans out of more than $20m.
在佛罗里达州奥兰治县，高额欺诈案件通常涉及可疑的加密货币和房地产交易或逃税。但今年4月底，警长宣布了更奇怪的事情。州检察长办公室指控一名男子、他的妻子和另外两人，在一家已封门的奥兰多店面外经营一家虚假移民律师事务所。他们以“Legacy Imigra”的名义运营，据称向数百名移民（主要是巴西人，遍布至少四个州）收取虚假服务费用，并代表他们提交欺诈性庇护申请，同时扣押他们的真实文件作为勒索。起诉书称，这四人诈骗了有抱负的美国人超过2000万美元。
Federal prosecutors in New York are going after an even more elaborate scheme. There they say a group of Colombian defendants(①文化背景：哥伦比亚历史上以毒品卡特尔闻...) not only posed as lawyers and extorted clients, but dressed in judges’ robes and police uniforms, staged sham(虚假的；冒充的) court hearings over video calls and issued fake documents stamped with government seals. They even convinced “clients” to skip real court hearings, leaving them more vulnerable to deportation.
纽约的联邦检察官正在追查一个更加精心策划的骗局。他们称，一群哥伦比亚裔被告不仅冒充律师敲诈客户，还身穿法官袍和警服，通过视频电话举行虚假法庭听证，并签发加盖政府印章的伪造文件。他们甚至说服“客户”跳过真正的法庭听证，使他们更容易被驱逐出境。
The indictments expose a business that is booming(迅速发展的；繁荣的) in Donald Trump’s America. As the administration narrows legal pathways to citizenship and ramps up deportations, more immigrants are becoming desperate for legal protection. A growing industry of scammers is cashing in.
这些起诉书揭露了一个在特朗普美国日新月异的行业。随着政府收窄合法入籍途径并加大驱逐力度，越来越多的移民急需法律保护。一个日益壮大的诈骗行业正在大发横财。