Staff

Alia is a law graduate on the Unaccompanied Children’s team. She studied Political Science at the University of Michigan before graduating from Wayne State University Law School. During law school she provided legal assistance to indigent clients through her school’s Free Legal Aid Clinic and Asylum and Immigration Clinic.

Amanda joined the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center as a Staff Attorney in May 2021. She currently works on the unaccompanied children’s team in the Ypsilanti office. Prior to joining MIRC, Amanda interned and externed at Legal Services of South Central Michigan. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University for Political Science-Pre law, and her Juris Doctorate from Michigan State University College of Law. Amanda is originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil and moved to Michigan with her family in 1999.

Amyra Woods joined the Michigan Immigrants' Rights Center as a staff attorney. Prior to working at MIRC, she worked in a nonprofit legal organization's COVID-19 Emergency Eviction Prevention Team. Woods has worked on Family Law, Landlord-Tenant, Civil Rights and Immigrations law cases in private practice. Woods graduated from Wayne State University with a Bachelor's in Journalism and a minor in Spanish. She obtained a Master of Arts in Conflict Resolution and System Design along with a Juris Doctorate from Wayne State University’s Law School. As a law student, she worked in Wayne State University’s Asylum and Immigration Law Clinic.

Woods will be based in the Detroit office and be part of the Helpdesk Team providing legal information to the public. Woods' goal is to connect people to necessary resources to assist individuals with making the best decisions for themselves and families to thrive safely and freely.

Angela is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Spanish and English and minor(s) in Community Action and Social Change and Latino/a studies. She was born in GTO, Mexico and was raised in Southwest Detroit. Angela is a DACA recipient who is very passionate about immigration law & doing equitable work around this. She has been involved in many non-profits around Detroit that focus on immigrant rights. Angela hopes to become an immigration attorney.

Brad Maurer joined the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center's Unaccompanied Children's Program as a staff attorney in July 2021. Before coming to MIRC, Brad worked with New York County Defender Services, a public defender office in downtown Manhattan, for eight years. In his time as a public defender, Brad represented indigent clients as a trial attorney in a wide range of criminal cases. Brad also served as NYCDS's DNA & Forensics Specialist, advising other attorneys regarding the forensic evidence in their cases as well as advocating and publishing with respect to broader legal and policy issues in the forensics arena. Brad received a B.S. in Neuroscience from Lafayette College, a Master's degree in Science Writing from Johns Hopkins University, and a J.D. from New York University.

Clarissa is the staff attorney responsible for coordinating the pro bono effort to support Afghan refugees arriving in Michigan. Prior to joining MIRC's Ypsilanti office in 2021 as an attorney for children in short term foster care, Clarissa worked as an Attorney Advisor at the Department of Justice, clerking for the Immigration Judges at the Detroit Immigration Court. She also worked for the Department of Health and Human Services to provide residential care to unaccompanied children entering the United States. Clarissa graduated from Michigan State University College of Law in 2018. While studying at MSU Law, she worked as a student attorney at Farmworker Legal Services and the University of Michigan Human Trafficking Clinic. Clarissa speaks Spanish and is dedicated to improving access to justice in Michigan.

Debora Cunha is a Legal Assistant at our Ypsilanti Office, focused on the Unaccompanied Minors Program . As an immigrant herself, Debora arrived as a minor in the United States from Brazil and is happy to assist unaccompanied minors through her own experiences. She is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish and is pursuing a major in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolutions. Her hobbies include kickboxing and scuba diving.

Deddi joined the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center in January 2022. She is a bilingual legal assistant working specifically with farm and agricultural workers. Deddi was born in Puerto Rico and is a native Spanish speaker. She resided in Boston before moving to Michigan in 2005. Deddi worked many years as a medical assistant providing interpreting services for the Latinx community at various Michigan community organizations and mental health foundations. She transitioned to legal assistant during the pandemic working alongside a private practice immigration attorney. Deddi enjoys working with the public and helping her immigrant worker rights team. She is dedicated to advocating for immigrant rights, and racial equity.

Edith is an office assistant and legal assistant for Grand Rapids. Being born from Mexican parents and coming from a family of Immigrants, makes her someone who has a deep personal understanding of the immigration process. Her experience has helped her become a passionate professional constantly striving to continue to learn more about immigration law.  She has volunteered for a nonprofit organization in Grand Rapids that focuses on immigrant rights. Edith is dedicated to advocating for immigrant rights, and racial equity. Edith is fluent in English and Spanish and has been working in the immigration field since 2016. In her free time, Edith likes to spend time with her family, read, and be outdoors.

Emily Smith is a staff attorney with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center’s Kalamazoo Office. She is part of a team of attorneys that represent unaccompanied children. Emily received her B.A. in Global and International Studies from Western Michigan University and received her Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership from the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance. Emily received her J.D. from Wayne State University Law School. During law school, she worked at the Asylum and Immigration Law Clinic and the Free Legal Aid Clinic. Her work is guided by the principles of social equity and social justice, and she strives to shed light on the collision of these principles with the traditional notions of charity that guide the nonprofit sector.

Eva Alvarez is the Public Policy Coordinator for the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and formerly a Department of Justice Accredited Representative representing clients before the Department of Homeland Security and Executive Office for Immigration Review. She focuses on advancing key local, state, and federal policy issues impacting immigrants, farmworkers, and immigrant workers. She holds her Master's Degree in Public Administration from Western Michigan University (WMU) with a concentration in nonprofit management and leadership. She serves on the Kalamazoo County ID Advisory Board and has served as the Director of Advocacy and Legislative Affairs for the Graduate Student Association at WMU. She is the co-founder of Empowering Latina Leaders and Advocates for Success (ELLAS) - the first professional network in Southwest Michigan In 2018, she was awarded the Vision Award by the Hispanic Latino Commission of Michigan. She has an interest in social and economic justice, especially in the area of worker and immigrant rights. Eva is fluent in Spanish.