News & Commentary written by Yesenia Chavez

Yesenia Chavez, a daughter of immigrants, serves as the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Policy Analyst within the National Political Advocacy Department where she advocates for humane federal immigration policy. Prior to ACLU, she was the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health’s Immigrant Women’s Health and Rights Policy Analyst, where she led the organization’s efforts to advance immigrants’ access to healthcare. Previously, Yesenia was a Legislative Assistant for U.S. Representative Raúl M. Grijalva where she worked to protect the safety of children, women, and transgender people in custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and ICE detention. Yesenia was named “Best Hill Staffer” in the Washington Blade’s 2017 & 2015 “Best of Gay D.C.” poll, and was a 2017 New Leaders Council fellow. Yesenia received a Bachelor’s in Political Science & Liberal Studies from the University of Houston.