Top Rated Immigration Attorney in Chicago, IL

I am a founder and partner of Valdez & Vilim, LLP. I focus my practice in the area of immigration and nationality law, including family-based immigration, humanitarian immigration (asylum, VAWA, U Visas, T Visas and SIJS), naturalization, immigration appeals, and removal defense. I represent clients in cases before the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, and the Department of Justice.  

In 2020, I also began working as a Practitioner in Residence for the Asylum & Immigration Law Clinic at DePaul University. During the 2017-2018 academic year, I worked as an adjunct professor in the immigration law clinic at Valparaiso University School of Law. Prior to co-founding Valdez & Vilim, LLP, I practiced immigration law at a private firm in Chicago. I also served a 2-year term as an Attorney Advisor through the U.S. Attorney General Honors Program at the Chicago Immigration Court, Executive Office for Immigration Review, Department of Justice. I have a background in human rights and advocacy work, which I gained by working at Amnesty International before I became an attorney.

I speak Spanish. I am a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and sit on the AILA EOIR Liaison Committee and Midwest Regional Conference Planning Committee. I obtained my J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center with a Certificate in Refugee and Humanitarian Emergencies. I obtained my B.A. magna cum laude in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame. I am admitted to practice law in Illinois.