Immigration attorney made unwanted advances to client seeking visa, IN suit says
An immigration attorney helping a father and daughter obtain work visas attempted to pursue an unwelcome, romantic relationship with the daughter after years of working together, an Indiana lawsuit said.
The woman, who had been a client of immigration attorney Alfredo Estrada, is now suing the Lake County attorney and his firm Burke, Costanza & Carberry for an unspecified amount of damages, according to a complaint filed May 2.
McClatchy News reached out to Estrada and the law firm May 8 but did not immediately receive a response.
Estrada was retained in 2018 by the woman's father who was looking to obtain a visa, the lawsuit said. At the time, the woman was 15-years-old but was involved in the process because her father was not fluent in English.
Once she turned 18, the lawsuit said the woman became her family's primary contact with the attorney for matters concerning her dad, siblings and eventually herself.
Over time, Estrada began to ask the woman more personal questions such as if she was dating anyone, the lawsuit said.
The romantic advances became more poignant in 2023 when the lawsuit said the attorney offered his client 'under the table' employment as she struggled to obtain a work visa. As he discussed her potential employment, he also asked to have a meal with her, according to the complaint.
Though she declined, the lawsuit said the attorney persisted.
'My wife doesn't mind, as long as I don't bring it home,' he told the woman, who was reliant on him for immigration help, in 2023, according to the lawsuit.
Estrada moved to keep up with the woman's life on TikTok and Instagram so he could track her whereabouts, the lawsuit said.
'I want to have a relationship,' the attorney said during a phone call to the woman. 'I want to be your sugar daddy, I wouldn't mind being that.'
Shortly after that advance, the lawsuit said the attorney left a message for the woman saying she and her father had obtained work authorizations.
Later that year, the woman fired the attorney and started to work with another immigration attorney, the lawsuit said.
She reported the unwanted advances from Estrada to her new attorney, who took the case to the United States Attorney and Homeland Security Special Investigations, the lawsuit said.
While investigators told the woman they didn't believe Estrada's actions were attempted human trafficking, they called the woman's account 'wholly credible,' the lawsuit said.
By rejecting the attorney's advances as he worked with her family, the stress led the woman to experience severe depression and anxiety, among other mental health conditions that required medical attention, the lawsuit said.
Lake County is in Northwest Indiana and is about a 40-mile drive southeast from Chicago.
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