A Southern California immigration business was seized under a court order this month after state regulators accused its owner of practicing law without a license, charging a client $6,000 for help with two friends detained at an immigration facility, then sending her a forged letter bearing a real attorney's signature when she complained. The client, identified as Xiuying Zhu, had reached out to the Chino-based North American Immigration Center for assistance with two people held in immigration custody.
According to The Sacramento Bee, Zhu complained that the company misrepresented its services and overcharged her. When she pushed back, the business's owner, who goes by Wendy Dong but is also known as Christine Dunn and Wenli Dong, allegedly sent her an additional $1,500 bill accompanied by a letter purportedly signed by an attorney. Zhu filed a complaint with the State Bar against that attorney, and the complaint triggered a much larger investigation into the unlicensed business, per the State Bar of California.
Investigators Say the Attorney Had Never Heard of the Client
Investigators determined that the attorney named on the letter had neither written nor signed it. The attorney told investigators he had conducted limited contract research for Dong's business but never represented Zhu, never worked on her case, and never authorized Dong to bill her under his name — he said he had never even heard of her, the State Bar's account states. Dong herself is not licensed to practice law in California, according to the agency.
State Bar investigators filed a complaint in San Bernardino County Superior Court, and on October 1 obtained a court order allowing the agency to take control of the business. The seizure was carried out the following day. Investigators confiscated 14 boxes of client files, three USB drives, and two computers. The legal basis for the action, Business and Professions Code Section 6126.3, grants state superior courts emergency jurisdiction allowing the State Bar to physically take over an unauthorized law practice.
State Bar Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona said Dong advertised deportation defense and other legal services without a license, and that when clients sought refunds, she responded with larger bills and letters bearing an attorney's forged signature. Cardona said the seizure protects clients and prevents harm to others. Dong's website had advertised help with student and work visas, family immigration matters, deportation proceedings, and other immigration services, though she was not immediately reachable for comment, per the Bee's reporting.
A Contract Translator Flagged the Lack of Attorneys
The case had been building before the courthouse filing. During an August inspection of the Chino office, a contract translator told a State Bar investigator that no licensed attorneys actually worked at the location, according to the agency. Before seeking court intervention, the State Bar sent Dong two formal inquiry letters asking her to respond to the unauthorized-practice allegations — she never replied to either one.
North American Immigration Center was incorporated in 2018, long before this case surfaced. The business operated in a county home to the 1,940-bed Adelanto ICE Processing Center, where families with detained relatives often face intense pressure to secure immediate help — a dynamic Hoodline has previously documented in a separate Adelanto-area fraud case involving an AI avatar posing as an immigration lawyer.
What California Law Allows — and Forbids
California's Immigration Consultant Act strictly limits what non-attorney consultants can do: they may prepare forms, but they cannot select legal strategies, give legal advice, or represent clients in deportation proceedings, and operators must post a $100,000 bond with the Secretary of State. Practicing law without an active bar license, or holding oneself out as authorized to do so, is a misdemeanor under Business and Professions Code Section 6126, carrying penalties of up to a year in county jail and fines up to $1,000, according to the law firm Cron Israels & Stark.
The Chino case fits a pattern the State Bar has been tracking statewide. In its 2025 annual report, the agency said it opened more than 1,200 non-attorney unauthorized-practice-of-law cases and referred 96 to law enforcement. Courts have also used civil penalties to punish similar operators; a San Francisco firm, Lacayo & Associates, was hit with a $600,000 judgment in September 2025 for defying an injunction against unauthorized immigration services, as Hoodline reported at the time.
Hoodline previously covered a similar enforcement action when the State Bar raided an unauthorized immigration office run by an Artesia pastor, and reported on a Sacramento firm sued under the Immigration Consultant Act for allegedly giving legal advice without a license. It remains unknown whether San Bernardino County prosecutors will pursue misdemeanor charges against Dong under Section 6126, and how many of the seized client files involve open, pending deportation cases that now need urgent legal attention, according to the State Bar's own account of the case.
Following the seizure, the State Bar set up a dedicated hotline — 213-765-1240 — offering help in English, Spanish, and Mandarin for former clients trying to retrieve their seized case files.
