Alaska Immigration Law Center and Their Half-Truths
Mark Twain once said that “half-truth is the most cowardly of lies” and yet, more than a century later, this statement can be applied to Alaska Immigration Law Center’s advertisement:
“Given these unprecedented times and attacks on immigrants and their families, Alaska Immigration Law Center is offering Free Initial Consultations for all immigration matters during the month of February” one could read on its Facebook page as of Tuesday, February 4, 2025. And on its website, that this team of lawyers offers “dedicated support for the immigration goals of Alaskan-based individuals (...) support in Alaska based on experience and understanding.” Lured by the advertisement of this law firm located at 821 N Street STE 101, Anchorage, of McQuillan & Hohman Law, several immigrants came to their offices seeking legal support and guidance, which was advertised as “free initial consultations for all immigration matters during the month of February.” But this supposedly free service came at a price. Some of these immigrants have told Sol de Medianoche their complaints because, once the assistance at the consultation was provided, they were required to publish a favorable review on social network sites or Google, or else they would be charged for the consultation, a condition that does not appear anywhere in the advertisement and that is challenging to comply with for many with difficulties to access the Internet and write with a minimum of fluency. We wonder if the favorable opinions that Alaska Immigration Law Center publishes on its web page are sincere, or if on the contrary they are written under the coercion to the unsuspecting immigrants that they will be charged the corresponding consultation fees if they don’t do so. We would have liked to know the response and explanation that Alaska Immigration Law Center would give to this “half-truth”. But it isn’t possible, because this law firm did not respond to any of the three emails we sent (February 8, 20 and 24.) In the emails we had asked to speak with a preferably Spanish-speaking lawyer or staff, such as the Colombian Mariana Rivera Escobar. Their silence (Mariana’s and that of the whole team of this firm) has been the response. |