Indian-origin immigration lawyer in the United States faces a civil penalty . (File Photo)
An Indian-origin immigration lawyer in the United States faces a civil penalty of more than $470,000, around Rs 4 crore, over claims that he filed fraudulent asylum applications on behalf of his clients. Suraj Raj Singh handles immigration cases across the US and has mainly filed asylum applications for people of Indian origin.
What is Singh accused of?
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have started proceedings to impose the penalty against him.
Singh is accused of preparing and filing 118 fraudulent documents across 54 immigration cases, submitting paperwork for different clients using the same language, the same narrative and the same facts.
Even the accounts of persecution described in petitions filed for different people appeared to be copied from one another. Based on these claims, ICE is seeking a maximum fine of $470,584.
What has the department said?
DHS General Counsel James Percival said fraudulent asylum claims put the safety of the American public at risk, weaken the immigration system, and delay the removal of what he called “dangerous criminal illegal aliens.”
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He said the Trump administration would take firm action against people and lawyers involved in such cases, and that abuse of the immigration system would not be allowed to continue.
DHS said the action follows a directive issued in May 2026 calling for stronger measures against fraudulent asylum claims. This marks the second major case in which the department has sought civil penalties against an immigration lawyer for document fraud linked to immigration cases.
In June 2026, a separate notice was issued against another immigration lawyer, Vinod Doddamani, proposing a fine of more than $255,000 over similar allegations of filing fraudulent asylum applications.
Legal proceedings against Singh are still under way, and a final decision on the matter is yet to be made by the authorities.
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Indian-origin immigration lawyer in the United States faces a civil penalty . (File Photo) 
