Marissa Montes

Marissa Montes is the Director, Founder and Professor of Loyola Law School’s Immigrant Justice Clinic (“LIJC”) a community-based law school clinic in partnership with Homeboy Industries Inc. and Dolores Mission Church. LIJC’s mission is to advance the rights of the immigrant population in East Los Angeles through direct legal services, education, and community empowerment while teaching law students effective immigrants’ rights lawyering skills in a real-world setting. Since its establishment in 2012, LIJC has trained over 100 law students, has represented thousands of immigrant clients, and has maintained a 95% success rate. In addition to directing the clinic, Marissa also teaches immigration law, courses relating to practical skills based training and created Loyola’s Immigration Law and Border Practicum, which brings law students to El Paso, Texas to provide pro bono representation to immigrants in removal proceedings.

Currently, Marissa is establishing Loyola’s Binational Migrant Advocacy Project (BMAP), the first binational immigration law school clinic in the nation. BMAP will work in partnership with the ITESO and the IBERO, Mexican Jesuit universities, to bring services to migrants in transit, deportees and their family members residing in Guadalajara and Tijuana. The project is aimed to also increase collaboration and train law students on both side of the border regarding US-Mexico immigration law and policy. Part of this project also includes LIJC’s DACA immersion program, where Loyola law students represent and accompany DACA recipients who seek to travel abroad and gain 245(a) protection. Though BMAP is set to officially launch in the spring of 2025, Marissa and her students are actively representing migrants currently forced to remain in Mexico.

Additionally. Marissa serves as a visiting professor at the ITESO in Guadalajara, where she teaches U.S. asylum law. She has had the honor to hold various political appointments including as a member of the California Department of Justice, Calgang Database Technical Advisory Committee, Commissioner and Chair for the inaugural Los Angeles Commission on Civil Rights and as immigration committee member for Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon’s transition team. Because of her work, Marissa has received recognition as a Top Young Lawyer by the ABA (2017) and a HNBA Top Lawyer under 40 (2019). She has testified as an expert before the California State Assembly, and her work has been highlighted on many media outlets including, CNN, NPR, and the Los Angeles Times.

Marissa immigrated to the United States from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico at the age of 2. Marissa’s desire to purse a career in immigration law stems from the experience of her family and her love for her community. She received her B.A. in International Relations and Spanish from the University of Southern California and her J.D. from Loyola in 2012.