By ALFREDO CORCHADO and ANGELA KOCHERGA / The Dallas Morning News

As President Bush prepares to meet with Mexican counterpart Vicente Fox today, his recent immigration proposal has spawned a cottage industry of opportunists promising to help illegal immigrants gain green cards.

The plan that Mr. Bush proposed in January would in part offer temporary legal status to millions of illegal immigrants who can prove employment in the United States. It was one of several proposed guidelines designed to overhaul U.S. immigration laws, and would have to be approved by Congress – a tough proposition, especially during an election year.

But on both sides of the Rio Grande, profiteers and would-be immigrants alike are treating Mr. Bush's proposal as a reality. Legal consultants, notary publics and con artists are descending on immigrants, apparently preying on their hopes with false promises, immigrant advocates say.

Dozens of people have been robbed of thousands of dollars in the United States in scams that have sprouted since the Bush proposal was announced, advocates say.

Immediately after Mr. Bush's announcement, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott posted warnings in Mexican consular offices across the state emphasizing that "no such [legalization] program yet exists."

The office has registered "hundreds of complaints," up from about a dozen in fiscal 2002, spokesman Paco Felici said.

Rosalva, 29, says her East Dallas family was bilked out of $4,000 by a man posing as an immigration agent, who promised them legal documents.

"As our hopes got higher, so did the lies, said Rosalva, whose family came to Texas from Veracruz, Mexico, and who asked that her last name not be used.

She said she has a message for the U.S. and Mexican leaders, who will meet at President Bush's Crawford ranch for two days of talks on various issues including immigration.

"Treat us with respect, as human beings, not as aliens," said Rosalva. "Aliens are exploited all the time."

In Mexico, many hopeful immigrants have been heading to the border, hoping to either reconnect with former employers or find a new job in order to prove employment, advocates say.

The number is higher than normal, officials say. Apprehensions of people trying to cross into the United States are up 14 percent – 110,382 from 96,869 in February compared with February of 2003, according to the Department of Homeland Security's immigration and customs office.

That increase is due in part to "buzz" over the Bush proposal, advocates say. The word has spread, they added, across many Mexican states, notably Hidalgo, San Luis Potosi and Guanajuato, where Francisco Robles described the sudden departure of his cousins, Mauricio and Tomas, from a ranch near San Miguel de Allende.

"After Bush's news," Mr. Robles said, "the music stopped, the parties ended. My cousins returned to Allen [Texas] in search of their green cards."

Returning for work

Brothers Mauricio and Rosalio Talavera returned to Houston in mid-January, cutting their "vacation" in San Luis Potosi short by at least three months. They said they wanted to reunite with their employer, as proof they have jobs "to qualify for legal papers," said Rosalio, as he painted a house on a Saturday afternoon on Taft Street near downtown.

As in 1986 – the last time the United States overhauled its complex immigration laws – the scams are back, particularly in Texas, which has the second-largest illegal-immigrant population after California.

Mr. Abbot's office said it is closely monitoring operations such as that of Jesus Sandoval, whose office in El Paso's Lower Valley placed an ad in the Mexican newspaper, El Diario, advertising his services. The ad read in part: "Guest workers under the new immigration reform by Fox-Bush ... first consultation free." A visitor to the address listed in the ad was told by a "legal consultant" that the Bush plan is already "approved" and that he anticipated the "application process would start in August."

"That is so far from the truth, it's ridiculous," said Kathleen Walker, an El Paso attorney and executive member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, or AILA, which is monitoring fraudulent claims.

Little comfort

Mr. Sandoval is not registered as an attorney in either Texas or Ohio, where he said he is licensed. He stressed in an interview that the initial consultation he provides is free.

"I'm advising people for them to prepare," he said. "I did the amnesty in 1986 the same way. I started advertising in 1982 when they first talked about it."

In Dallas, Rosalva and her family remain stunned by their "bad luck," said Julio, her husband. He said they have gained little comfort from discovering that they're not alone, noting that the family had heard about at least a dozen other victims taken in by the same person.

He said the man told all his "clients" that if at anytime during the process they balked, or complained to authorities about him, he would have them deported.

That warning was very effective with Rosalva, who said she had spent 13 days walking in the Sonoran desert last fall and almost died of dehydration.

She said she recently stood in line at the Mexican Consulate in Dallas to complain but, "I could never get in. Too many people."

"Whether we are deported, or not, we need our dignity back," Julio said. "We want to be treated as humans, people just trying to make ends meet."

Staff writers Dianne Solis in Dallas and Michelle Mittelstadt in Washington contributed to this report.