Contra Costa County, CA – When Alexandra took on a removal defense case in October of 2017, her respondent wasn’t even scheduled for a case merits hearing until January of 2020. Her client, a Mexican man who suffered nearly a decade of persecution due to his sexual orientation, had already received help from three previous legal representatives. One of these representatives was an unlicensed “notario” who filed fraudulent paperwork on his behalf and without his knowledge in the early 2000’s, which is what landed him in these immigration removal proceedings in the first place.
In November of 2017, Alexandra’s case became expedited by 20 months when Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued an order to Federal Immigration Judges to close immigration cases that have been pending for an extended amount of time. After three postponements due to the Department of Homeland Security being unable to locate the Alexandra’s client’s file, the case was finally heard on April 24th of 2018. Alexandra’s client was granted asylum and he may remain in the United States lawfully, and within one year he may apply for residency.
After graduating from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, Alexandra began her private solo practice operating out of the Contra Costa County Family Justice Center’s Richmond and Concord offices. Alexandra began by winning several guardianship petitions in the Contra Costa County Probate Court in support of Special Immigrant Juvenile Status applications. Alexandra is a member of the California State Bar, the Contra Costa County Bar Association, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the National Lawyers Guild, and has been an active volunteer at several Bay Area non-profit organizations since starting her legal studies in the bay area.
Alexandra’s passion for immigration reform began as an undergraduate student at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. Later, as a law student, Alexandra traveled to Guatemala while participating in the Refugee and Human Rights Clinic as a second year law student at UC Hastings. While in Guatemala, she was part of a team that collected facts and information in an effort to support asylum applicants in the United States. Alexandra spent a full semester as a policy intern in Washington D.C. at the National Immigration Law Center, she worked as an intern at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, she completed a post-graduate fellowship at the Immigration Center for Women and Children, and she worked as a Graduate Law Clerk and a Death Penalty Law Clerk at the Contra Costa County Public Defender’s Office before starting her private practice in September of 2017. While in law school, Alexandra served as President of Hastings Students for Immigrants’ Rights, and Co-Vice President of Hastings Public Interest Law Foundation.