Staff

Elinor Jordan is a Supervising Attorney for Training and Impact, focusing on work with unaccompanied immigrant children. Immediately before joining MIRC, Elly helped found the Survivor Law Clinic at the Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence, where she engaged in novel legal representation to enforce crime victim rights for survivors. Earlier in her legal career, Elly taught and litigated cases as a Supervising Attorney with Michigan State University’s Immigration Law Clinic. While a student at MSU Law, Elly was the editor-in-chief of the Michigan State Law Review. Upon graduation, she served as a clerk for the Honorable David W. McKeague of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and later as an associate with the firm Warner Norcross & Judd. Before becoming a lawyer, Elly worked with a nonprofit human rights organization in El Salvador and Washington, DC.

Emmanuel is a Paralegal at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. He recently graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in international studies and translation. His past advocacy work includes translating and/or conducting research for Freedom House Detroit, InReach (formerly AsylumConnect), Perseus Strategies, and the Immigrant Justice Lab. He is a recent immigrant from Jalisco, Mexico.

Before assuming the Data Coordinator position at MIRC, Foster completed a 5- month internship at MIRC. During this time, he worked alongside Data Coordinators and between sub-practices on various data-related projects. In 2023, Foster earned a Bachelor of Science from Grand Valley State University, double majoring in Statistics and Political Science. He is passionate about using data to drive positive social and political change, particularly within the U.S. immigration system.

Gabriella joined the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center as a Staff Attorney in June 2024. She currently works on the Unaccompanied children’s team in the Grand Rapids office. Prior to joining MIRC, Gabriella was a prosecutor for the Ninth judicial circuit in Orlando, Florida. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Florida State University in International Affairs, and her Juris Doctorate from Barry University School of Law. While Gabriella was in law school she earned an honors certificate in Family and Child Law.

Gia Evans is a recent graduate of Western Michigan University with a Bachelor's degree in both Music Performance and Spanish. She is originally from the greater area of Metro Detroit, but has lived in Kalamazoo since attending WMU. Beginning prior to MIRC, she is a contract employee at El Concilio teaching Introductory Spanish to adults and interpreting for the Kalamazoo area. On the weekends she can be found teaching music lessons and doing local gigs on her flute.

Giuliana (she/her) is a Community Resource Coordinator based out of the Ypsilanti office. She studied Archaeology and Classical Languages during her undergraduate degree and she also received a Masters degree in Museum Studies at New York University. She is from the Philadelphia area and she speaks Spanish and Italian. Her last role was as an Exhibitions Educator for children at the New York Public Library.

Gonzalo Peralta joined the Michigan Immigrants Rights Center on February of 2020. Prior to starting at MIRC, he was an associate attorney for Audrey Allen Immigration Law, LLc practicing immigration law for eight years where he focused and specialized in removal defense. Gonzalo is a Penn State University and Rutgers Law School graduate. Originally from Argentina, Gonzalo is fluent in Spanish. He will be based in the Grand Rapids office focusing on workers’ rights.

Hannah is a staff attorney with Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, working on the unaccompanied children's team. Originally from Georgia, Hannah received her B.S. in History and Government from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, and went on to study law at Michigan State University. Prior to her employment with MIRC, Hannah worked as a Staff Attorney specializing in Family Law at Legal Services of South Central Michigan. Hannah is dedicated to advocacy for immigrant children in the state of Michigan, both in a professional capacity and in her free time as a volunteer.

Isabella is an Administrative Legal Assistant for the Unaccompanied Children's Program in Ypsilanti, MI. She graduated from Michigan State University in 2023 with a degree in Comparative Cultures and Politics and minors in both Spanish language and Latin American and Caribbean Studies. During her time at MSU Isabella participated in many extracurricular activities that focused on advocacy and an internship abroad in Barcelona, Spain for a public-health non-profit organization. She joined MIRC in the spring of 2024, and is passionate about advocating for immigrants’ rights and social justice.

Jack is a Staff Attorney with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. He currently works on the unaccompanied children's team in the Ypsilanti Office. Originally from Pittsburgh, Jack received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 2023. While in law school, Jack worked in the Michigan Innocence Clinic, Juvenile Justice Clinic, Immigrant Justice Lab, and interned with the Neighborhood Defender Service in Detroit. Prior to attending law school, Jack graduated from Boston University with degrees in Philosophy and Computer Science, and he worked for several years as a software engineer.

Jaimie Lerner is an attorney with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. She works on the Detroit Front Door Team, handling a wide-range of cases before the Immigration Court, State Court, Federal Court, and federal agencies. Prior to joining MIRC in 2021, she served as an Attorney Advisor at the Detroit Immigration Court and as a Judicial Law Clerk for the New York Immigration Court, part of the Executive Office for Immigration Review. She received her J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and her B.A. from the University of Michigan. During law school, Jaimie served as a legal intern with the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice in Washington D.C., as well as a student clinician with the Immigration Justice Clinic and Human Rights and Atrocity Prevention Clinic for Cardozo in New York. As a law student, she was an Assistant Coach and prior competitor for the Cardozo Moot Court Team at the University of Oxford Media Law Competition in Oxford, England, examining international law and freedom of expression concerns.