Top best Immigration Lawyers in ZIP 78745 | 7 available

Prior to managing my own law office, I was the Managing Partner of an Austin Business and Immigration law firm. Before my work in private practice, I worked for the state's highest criminal court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. As the court's Program Attorney, I supervised the Texas Criminal Justice Integrity Unit, assisted with the court's ten million dollar grant for legal education, and served as the legislative liaison. I also served as a briefing attorney at the same court.

Michael Ponder graduated from Tulane University in 1998 with a B.A. in Spanish. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Southern University Law Center in 2003 with a Juris Doctorate. He worked in the area of insurance defense litigation for two years before starting his immigration practice in 2005. He has had the pleasure of helping hundreds of new Americans get residency, citizenship, visas and many different forms of lawful immigration status in the U.S. Besides his work with clients, Mr. Ponder also does volunteer work for refugees and victims of crime through American Gateways and Casa Marianella.

Julie Sparks is a board-certified specialist in immigration and nationality law.  After more than a decade of practice exclusively in the field of immigration law, she has represented immigrants from more than 70 different countries.  She has helped hundreds of individuals and families achieve legal status in the U.S. in cases involving marriage, citizenship, domestic violence, torture, and charges of deportation/removal in immigration court.. A passion for aiding individuals from around the world led Julie to give up a teaching career and pursue a law degree.  The seed of this passion was planted when Julie met a Rwandan refugee in the ’90s through her work in a homeless shelter in Waco, Texas.  Her love for this area of law remains to this day.  Clients and potential clients often tell her that she is the first person to show true concern for their case and the first to help them thoroughly understand the complexities of the legal issues they face.. Julie is a former instructor in immigration law at the Pepperdine School of Law in Malibu, California as well as California State University – Los Angeles.  During her years in California, she also founded and managed a non-profit organization through which she supervised numerous law students in their representation of indigent immigrants seeking asylum and other relief.  Julie has served as a volunteer attorney for many community organizations at dozens of community events.  Prior to the creation of the DACA program, she served as a legal advisor to “Dreamers” in their struggle to pressure the Obama administration to provide relief to undocumented students.  As a volunteer Legal Coordinator for the 2003 Immigrant Workers' Freedom Ride, Julie assisted immigrants in joining together in a nationwide protest and call for meaningful immigration reform to protect the rights of undocumented workers in this country.. Julie earned a Bachelor of Science in Education degree from Baylor University and a Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.) degree from the University of Houston Law Center.  There she was a recipient of the University of Houston Law Center's Public Interest Fellowship. She has served as a pro bono attorney for numerous organizations over the years, including The National Center for Refugee and Immigrant Children, an agency funded in part by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.  She was the recipient of the 2010 Beacon of Justice Award from the National Legal Aid and Defender Association.. Ms. Sparks is a member of the Texas Bar Association and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).

Immigration attorney Kalani Hawks Villafranca has over a decade of experience as an attorney and served for several years as the managing attorney for the Texas Here to Stay/Texas No Nos Vamos coalition. She helped bring free legal clinics to communities throughout Texas and provided guidance to thousands of immigrants seeking to renew their DACA status or become U.S. citizens. Before founding Hawks Villafranca Law, Abogada Kalani worked as a Senior Immigration Attorney for the Equal Justice Center in Austin, TX where she helped hundreds of people get the work permits they needed to support themselves and their families. She appears regularly on Univision and is a trusted partner of the Mexican Consulate in Austin.

Attorney Amanda Mitchell Diaz understands the complexities of immigration and nationality law, and she is committed to helping nonimmigrants and immigrants apply for the appropriate form of relief. She also helps residents apply for U.S. citizenship.. Ms. Mitchell Diaz first became passionate about immigration law when she applied for her husband to immigrate to the U.S. from Chile with a K visa (fiance visa). After that, she worked as an intern in the Immigration Court in Denver, Colorado. Since graduating from the University of Denver, she has worked extensively in immigration law, including two years in the Law Office of Gloria Vera, PC, before starting her own practice.. Ms. Mitchell Diaz understands from personal experience the hardship of being separated from loved ones while applying for a visa, and also the difficulties that come with waiting for employment authorization. For that reason, she is dedicated to providing people with high quality, personal legal representation at competitive rates.. Please contact the office with your immigration or citizenship questions. Ms. Mitchell Diaz will be happy to speak with you on the phone or set up a consultation.