Our Los Angeles Team

Iris, is a member of the State Bar of California and a graduate of University of California, Irvine and Western State College of Law, Fullerton. During law school, Iris had the opportunity to participate in the Western State Immigration Clinic and helped serve socioeconomically underprivileged clients with various applications including U-Visas, DACAs, Adjustment of Status, Affirmative Asylum and a SIJS petition. As part of the Advanced Immigration Clinic, Iris also participated in the Legal Orientation Program (LOP) through Public Counsel and Public Law Center at the James A. Musiak Facility and helped screen detainees for possible immigration relief. At graduation, Iris was also one of two inaugural recipients of the Western State College of Law Immigration Certificate. Iris’ passion for immigration law stems from her family’s immigration history and her understanding on how obtaining legal status can positively change a person’s trajectory in life. In 2014, during her last semester of law school, Iris volunteered at KIND and became passionate about helping unaccompanied minors. After law school, Iris continued to volunteer at KIND while also working at a private immigration law office concentrating on family based immigration matters, U-visas, DACAs, Adjustment of Status petitions, I-601A Waivers and Naturalization. Iris’ dedication to KIND resulted in her becoming part of the KIND Los Angeles team in early 2015.

Bio coming soon!

Shino Komine holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston University and is a graduate of the University of California Los Angeles School of Law where she received her J.D. degree in 2001. Originally a litigation attorney, Shino has over 10 years of experience in immigration law. Immediately prior to joining Kids In Need of Defense (KIND), Shino worked at Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) in Los Angeles, California, where she represented unaccompanied minors and other individuals in removal proceedings and in filing of various reliefs and applications including asylum, TPS, DACA, U-Visa, NACARA, family petitions, naturalization, 601A waivers, adjustment of status, and consular processing, among others. Shino also worked as an associate at a private immigration firm for eight years. Prior to dedicating her career to immigration law, Shino worked as a litigation attorney at Arnold & Porter. During her time in private practice, Shino actively engaged in pro bono practice and represented indigent clients in removal proceedings. At KIND, Shino works with pro bono attorneys representing unaccompanied minors from Central America in Asylum and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status matters before the state and immigration courts. Shino speaks Japanese and Spanish and is a mother of two teenage boys.

Alexander graduated summa cum laude from Pepperdine University with a B.A. in International Studies and Philosophy. After working as an immigration legal assistant in his hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada, he returned to Los Angeles where he earned his J.D. from the UCLA School of Law. As a law student, Alexander interned for the Los Angeles Immigration Court and National Immigration Law Center. He also participated in UCLA's Immigrants' Rights Policy Clinic, where he drafted and advocated for policies limiting local involvement in immigration enforcement and served as an editor for the UCLA Law Review and the Dukeminier Awards Journal of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law. Before joining KIND, Alexander represented unaccompanied minors as a Staff Attorney at Immigrant Defenders Law Center.

Christina Ontiveros was born and raised in California. She is the oldest child of two immigrant parents from Michoacán, México. Christina is a 2013 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley with bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology and Legal Studies. Following graduation, Christina worked as a legal assistant for the Beles Law Firm in Oakland, California. Working in a high-volume office, Christina was able to immerse herself in immigration law, learning how to prepare applications, conduct client intake interviews, and draft motions. In 2018, Christina graduated from Golden Gate University, School of Law, receiving a J.D. with a specialization in Family Law & Public Interest Law. While in law school, Christina was on the Dean’s List. She was also the Co-Chair of GGU’s La Raza Law Students Association and part of GGU’s Law Review, finishing her 3L year as its Executive Research Editor and publishing Nordstrom v. Ryan: Inmate’s Legal Correspondence Between His or Her Attorney is Still Constitutionally Protected, 48 Golden Gate U. L. Rev. 99 (2018). In addition to her academic accomplishments, Christina interned at The Law Office of Renato F. Manay, where she engaged in asylum work and served as a Spanish translator for in-person asylum interviews.

John joined KIND as a Senior Attorney in June 2021. Prior to joining KIND, John served as a Supervising Attorney at Catholic Charities Community Services in New York City. At Catholic Charities, John led the organization’s Community Legal Clinic Project and supervised a team of Immigrant Justice Corps Fellows. Prior to becoming a Supervising Attorney, John was an Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow at Catholic Charities, where he spearheaded the organization’s expansion of legal services to New York’s Lower Hudson Valley. As a law student, John volunteered with KIND’s Boston office and interned with Greater Boston Legal Services. Prior to attending law school, John served as a Research Associate at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, where he focused on voting rights issues. John is a graduate of Boston University School of Law and UC Berkeley. John is licensed to practice law in New York and California. 

Sadie Diaz joined KIND as a Staff Attorney in November 2020. Prior to joining KIND, Sadie spent five years as a Senior Staff Attorney at Sanctuary for Families in New York representing survivors of domestic violence in family law matters. As part of the Courtroom Advocates Project at Sanctuary, Sadie also trained and supervised hundreds of pro bono advocates and law students on assisting petitioners obtain Orders of Protection. Before Sanctuary, Sadie was an associate in the New York office of Latham & Watkins, where she handled litigation and pro bono matters, was the co-head of Latham's asylum project, and served on Latham's pro bono committee. Sadie also previously worked as a fellow at the Center for Reproductive Rights and as a judicial law clerk in the Central District of California. Sadie is a graduate of the University of Southern California and Columbia University School of Law.

Erika Patricia Munoz supports the Legal Services Department at KIND and joined the team in January 2022. Erika is Mexican American from Los Angeles, California and is the daughter of immigrants. She received her Juris Doctorate from McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California. During law school, Erika was a law clerk at the McGeorge Immigration Clinic where she worked on KIND referral cases and represented children in both Special Immigrant Juvenile Status proceedings and removal proceedings. Erika also interned at the Sacramento County Public Defender's Office in the Misdemeanor Intake Department. Prior to attending law school, Erika worked as a case manager for Children of the Night, a group home striving to provide intervention services for girls who were sexually exploited and vulnerable to or involved in prostitution or pornography. She also completed a year of service with City Year Sacramento helping support students in under-resourced schools. Erika is excited to continue her work in advocating for children in need.

Glenda Garcia joined KIND as a Staff Attorney in March 2021. Prior to joining KIND, she worked for an immigration law firm assisting clients with their family-based petitions and employer sponsored visas. Glenda is a Guatemalan-American from Los Angeles, CA and the daughter of immigrants. Glenda graduated magna cum laude from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, where she received her degree in Women's and Gender Studies. After the completion of two service terms with AmeriCorps VISTA, she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in a rural community in Thailand. She worked together with other teachers in making English accessible to all students no matter their language levels or economic disparities. Glenda earned her J.D. from Maurer School of Law at Indiana University, where she focused her studies on Immigration Law and Education Policy. She held internships at Public Counsel in Los Angeles, CA, the National Immigration Law Center in Washington DC, and Indiana Legal Services (ILS). Her work at ILS was a defining experience in her career, because it cemented her passion for working with families seeking asylum and escaping violence in their home countries.

Luis Rodriguez supports the Legal Services Department at KIND. Prior to joining KIND in April 2022, he worked at a nonprofit immigration legal service provider where he represented unaccompanied minors in their removal proceedings. He has also represented adults in their removal proceedings while at a removal defense law firm and as a law student through the UCI Immigrant Rights Clinic. He earned his J.D. at the University of Irvine, School of Law and has been practicing immigration law since December 2018.

Maricela de la Torre joins KIND in August 2023 as Staff Attorney in the Los Angeles office. Maricela received her Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree in Psychology from Loyola Marymount University, and her Juris Doctor from Whitter Law School. Prior to joining KIND, Maricela worked at CARECEN where she provided legal services to survivors of crime in obtaining immigration relief and legal permeant residency. Maricela is licensed to practice law in California and is engaged in the federal practice of immigration law.

Ned Martinez received his Juris Doctorate from the University of San Francisco School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Spanish from the University of New Mexico. Ned was first introduced to immigration law as an Immigration Legal Assistant and Interpreter at Santiago Law Office, P.C. in San Francisco from 2011-2014, where a large focus of his work was assisting individuals newly eligible to apply for DACA. During his first summer of law school, Ned served as the San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association/Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom LGBT Public Interest Fellow, which sponsored his summer fellowship at East Bay Sanctuary Covenant in Berkeley. At East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, Ned focused primarily on representing LGBTQI+ and HIV-Positive individuals applying for asylum before the San Francisco Asylum Office. During his second and third years of law school, Ned participated in the University of San Francisco School of Law, Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic. As part of the clinic, Ned provided direct services for families and unaccompanied minors in immigration removal proceedings and before the San Francisco Asylum Office. In October 2015, as part of a group of USF clinic volunteers, Ned traveled to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, TX where he volunteered with the CARA pro-bono project which works to assure vital access to counsel for the asylum-seeking women and children being held at the facility. During his second and final summer of law school, Ned worked as the California Bar Foundation's Removal Defense Fellow at Centro Legal de La Raza in Oakland to support the launch and development of a new pro-bono project that was established to serve detained immigrants being held at the Mesa Verde Detention Center in Bakersfield. Most recently, Ned provided direct representation to children and families as an Associate Attorney at the University of San Francisco School of Law, Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic. Ned is originally from New Mexico and was most recently in the Bay Area prior to relocating to Los Angeles.

Stephanie Powers joined KIND's Los Angeles team as a Staff Attorney in November 2023. Her interest in immigration law was sparked by the stories of her friends, and she began her legal career by volunteering with KIND in Boston as an interpreter. This experience solidified her commitment to supporting immigrant communities through legal representation. During law school, Stephanie gained diverse experience in immigration cases through internships with organizations like Al Otro Lado, Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project, and others. Before joining KIND, she worked as an Immigrant Justice Corps Fellow at Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), providing holistic representation to adults facing deportation in Los Angeles. Stephanie holds a B.A. in Computer Science and Spanish from Gordon College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Her goal is to contribute to building an immigration system that prioritizes welcome, hospitality, and hope.

Bio coming soon!

Karina Cazares joined as a Paralegal at KIND on June 2021. She graduated from the University of California, Irvine with two bachelor degrees in History and International Studies in June 2017. Her studies focused on human rights, immigration, and war. She wrote research papers on healthcare inequality in immigration detention centers, the rise of unaccompanied minors in 2014, and human rights violations in Fallujah, Iraq during the Iraq War. Additionally, she interned with the American Red Cross and Human Rights Watch (HRW). Prior to joining KIND, she worked at the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) as a Legal Assistant in the Survivors of Violence Unit. She assisted clients in their U Visa, VAWA, and adjustment of status applications, consular processing applications.

Melissa is a 2013 graduate of Occidental College where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Spanish Studies. Post-graduation she joined the Law Offices of Carl Shusterman as a Legal Assistant and was later promoted to Paralegal. As a Paralegal, her work focused on family-based immigration. Melissa assisted clients with their applications for adjustment of status, consular processing, naturalization, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. She is a California Court Certified Interpreter with the Judicial Council of California. Her affiliation with KIND began as a volunteer interpreter in 2015 while she was enrolled in the Court Interpretation Certification Program at California State University Los Angeles. After becoming a State Certified Interpreter, she continued to volunteer at KIND on a pro-bono basis. In July 2019 Melissa joined the KIND team as a Program Assistant at their Los Angeles office.

Bio coming soon!

Jennifer Hernandez is a Paralegal at Kids in Need of Defense (KIND). She joined the KIND Los Angeles team in October 2023. Prior to joining KIND, she worked as a Legal Assistant for a private law firm that specialized in immigration cases. In this role, Jennifer gained experience in preparing various immigration-related applications and court filings under attorney supervision. She also has experience in DACA, family petitions, adjustments, asylum, naturalizations, advance parole, and FOIA requests. Jennifer holds a B.A. in Criminology, Law and Society from the University of California, Irvine. She also received her Paralegal Studies certificate from the University of California, Los Angeles Extension program. Jennifer is an advocate for social justice, immigration reform, diversity, and human rights.

Bio coming soon!

Naima Blasco joined KIND as a Program Assistant in December 2021. She graduated from Hunter College in New York with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a minor in Human Rights. Her studies focused on understanding the worldwide effects of U.S. foreign policy in relation to emigration patterns and military conflict in Latin America. She became interested in this topic after hearing stories of the 1976 military dictatorship in Argentina that her father witnessed as a teen. During her time at Hunter, Naima had the opportunity to help expand Amnesty International’s Individuals At Risk Program where she developed campaigns to free individuals being persecuted and/or imprisoned for their beliefs or identities. She represented AIUSA’s interests in D.C. while proposing two bills and a resolution to several Congress people, Senators, and their staffers that would protect refugees, migrants, and human rights defenders. She gravitated towards community outreach while volunteering at Make The Road NY, where she conducted mock interviews to help immigrants succeed in their citizenship exams. Naima worked as a waitress throughout New York and Brooklyn for 10 years. She looks forward to empowering immigrant communities and continuing to offer protection and support for Los Angeles’ immigrant youth at KIND.

Ruby joined KIND as a Paralegal in June of 2022. She was born and raised in Pico Union, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, CA. She attended the University of California, Irvine (UCI) where she majored in Sociology and Criminology, Law and Society. Her interest in immigration began during her time as an intern for the Immigration Court Watch Program, a program affiliated with the Los Angeles chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. Before joining KIND, Ruby was a legal assistant at Weisz Immigration Law Group. During her time at Weisz, she assisted clients with asylum applications, consular processing, DACA, family petitions, naturalizations, TPS and VAWA applications. In her spare time, Ruby assists 3B Collective, a Los Angeles-based group of artists who create murals and public artworks in an effort to provide communities with accessibility to the arts.

Jacquelyn joined the team as Programs Coordinator in Fall 2023. She received her undergraduate degree from East Carolina University with a B.S. in Child and Family Advocacy, and later obtained an M.A. in International Community Development. Her research in Latino communities inspired her to continue to pursue work in the nonprofit world. During her time at East Carolina University, she interned at a humanitarian non-profit where she later joined their team as a Lead Administrator, assisting in logistics and operations for global outreach. Most recently prior to joining KIND, Jennifer worked at an immigration law firm in Santa Ana, California where she realized that she wanted to continue to work in immigration and assist individuals toward achieving the American dream.

Diana Diaz Madera joined the KIND team in October 2022 as a Social Services Supervisor in the Los Angeles office. Diana is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and holds a master’s in Public Health with a focus on Program Planning from George Washington University. Prior to joining KIND, Diana worked at Human Rights First where she developed the Los Angeles office’s first Social Work program. Diana has previously worked providing trauma informed clinical services to immigrant farmworkers, Native American families, and military veterans in California’s Central Valley. Additionally, she has experience in providing trainings for clinical, educational, and legal providers in best practices when serving people seeking asylum and other immigrants who have experienced severe complex trauma. Diana was born and raised in Ecuador and migrated to the Midwest at the age of fifteen. While living in Indiana she received a bachelor’s in Psychology, Social Policy and Peace and Justice & Conflict Studies. It is here where she began her career in Social Work and where, for six years, she provided intensive care facilitation at a local FQHC for immigrant communities and helped develop the area’s first bi-lingual and bi-cultural team to serve Spanish speaking immigrants.

Bio coming soon!

Bio coming soon!