Melissa G. Shepard is the Legal Services Director, overseeing the Removal Defense, Rapid Response, Cross Border Initiative, and Welcoming Project programs. In this role, she leads teams providing removal defense, legal services, and community education to asylum seekers both within the United States and along the southern border.

Melissa has worked in the field of immigration law for more than a decade and has represented individuals in removal proceedings and USCIS interviews throughout the United States. Since 2016, she has served the Southern California Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) in multiple liaison roles and continues to contribute to AILA National committees. She is also the past Chair of the Orange County Bar Association’s Immigration Section. Through her work, she remains a committed advocate for immigrants’ rights and a steadfast voice for fairness and justice.

Melissa is the daughter of immigrants, which fuels her passion and dedication to the immigrant community and she clients she serves. She has been featured as an expert source in numerous media outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, the Associated Press, NPR, Univision, Telemundo, and others.

UC Irvine (BA International Studies, Minor - Spanish); Whittier Law School