Heather joined MLRI in 2021 as a senior immigration attorney. Prior to joining MLRI, Heather worked as an immigration and criminal defense attorney at Demissie & Church, where she was involved with several high-profile federal cases. Before private practice, Heather worked as an asylum attorney in the Immigration Unit at Greater Boston Legal Services. She clerked for Justice Scott L. Kafker, currently an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Listed as one of Boston Magazine’s Top Lawyers of 2022-2024, Heather was honored with the Boston Bar Association’s 2023 President’s Award as one of the lead pro bono immigration attorneys who helped coordinate the legal response to the Venezuelans sent to Martha’s Vineyard. A 2018 Top Women of Law recipient from Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Heather accepted the 2017 AILA New England Pro Bono Champion award on behalf of the Boston Logan Airport litigation team after successfully challenging the first Muslim Ban. She provided pro bono legal advice to Afghan parolees in U.S. military barracks, and traveled to Tijuana to volunteer with asylum-seekers at the border.
Heather has chaired the AILA New England Litigation committee, and she has helped coordinate a state-wide litigation response to this administration’s immigration policies. As the coordinator of immigration legislation for MLRI, she has advised federal and state members of congress, drafted legislation, testified in support of legislation, and provided briefings at the Massachusetts State House. Heather has given seminars, key-note talks, and served on panels for the American Medical Association, American Immigration Lawyers Association, Massachusetts Bar Association, New England Muslim Bar Association, Boston University Law School, Northeastern University School of Law, Suffolk Law School, Boston College Law School, Harvard School of Public Health, Emerson College, Brandeis University, Immigrant Family Services Institute, and many federal, state, and local immigrant-serving organizations, churches, temples, mosques, and groups. Originally from Woodstock, Vermont, Heather attended UNC Chapel Hill for her undergraduate degree, and was a Public Interest Law Scholar at Northeastern University School of Law.