About

– 2000, BeginningI began my 17 years of working with immigrants when I waitressed at Tex-Mex restaurant in Cambridge. I was taking a semester off from Bryn Mawr College and needed to pay my rent. In addition to paying my bills, though, I came to know my Brazilian and Mexican co-workers, and see all of the struggles they were going through on a daily basis. Having their car towed when they drove without an American license. Struggling to explain in broken English to the doctor why they had brought their baby into the emergency room. Working 80 hours a week to send money back to their mother in Brazil. So I decided to learn Portuguese, and the cooks, waitresses and bus boys became my teachers in between serving tables and going with friends to the hospital to try to help translate.– 2001, VolunteerAfter seeing how powerless many of my friends felt, I decided to volunteer as an English tutor to help empower the same community of immigrants so that they could participate more fully in the English-speaking community around them. It wasn’t enough for me though. There was so much more that was needed.– 2002, ParalegalAfter graduating, I looked for a job where I could make a bigger difference in immigrants’ lives. I had the luck of finding a job working for a skilled immigration attorney, who became my mentor. I worked as an immigration law paralegal in Boston, learning the ins and outs of the bewildering immigration system. Still, though, I didn’t feel like I was doing all that I was meant to do.– 2006, My First CaseThe best experience I had during those years of school, though, was my work with the Boston College Immigration and Asylum Project. Under a mentor’s supervision, I was able to help reunite a family four years after they had been separated by deportation. The husband had been deported to Mexico, the wife was struggling to make ends meet, and the children wanted to know when their daddy was coming home. It was a huge amount of responsibility, and it quickly became clear how important my role was. It wasn’t important for my resume or some award, it was important to each member of that family.– 2007, My Dream JobIn 2007, I opened my own office. I fell in love with working on tough cases, helping the underdog win an impossible fight against the Goliath immigration agencies. I later named the office Immigration Advocates, as a clear statement of the motivation that drives me: advocating for my clients as an attorney, activist, and supporter.– 2009, My Dream TeamAfter a few years, and with a baby on the way, I knew that I would need to bring on additional help if I was going to serve as many clients as I wanted to. First my husband Daniel joined me, and later others. With each addition, I have dedicated myself to finding team members who are as passionate about working with our clients as I am. I have been blessed to find dedicated, skilled, compassionate and determined professionals. I believe you can see in our work that each of us loves what we do and feels lucky to be working with our clients.– 2017, Making More Dreams Come True…Today, we are a busy, growing office with wonderful clients. We stopped advertising years ago because our clients are happy with the work that we have done for them and refer their friends and family to us. We love seeing the sisters, fathers, cousins, friends and co-workers of our clients come to us to help them achieve their immigration dreams. It is the highest compliment that we can receive, to earn our clients’ trust so that they can enthusiastically recommend us.

Practices Areas

Immigration

Language

Portuguese

Contact