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ANNA BARRIENTOS J.D.
Detroit,MI
Summary
Immigration law professional with a J.D. and 15+ years of experience in EB-1A extraordinary ability petition development, removal defense, family-based immigration, inadmissibility waivers, and administrative adjudication. Proven track record preparing I-140 petitions, drafting RFE and NOID responses, and building evidence-driven legal narratives that withstand USCIS scrutiny. Skilled in case management, pre-filing quality control, SOP development, and paralegal team leadership across high-volume immigration practices. Experienced with Docketwise, INSZoom, LawLogix, PACER, EOIR portals, and ECAS. Bilingual in English and Spanish.
Overview
19
19
years of professional experience
Work History
Legal Operations Specialist
Mann Law Group
Farmington Hills, MI
12.2025 - Current
- Direct full-case-lifecycle management for 1,000+ active immigration matters, driving approximately 100 USCIS submissions per month to completion across family-based, employment-based, removal defense, and humanitarian practice areas.
- Built and own the firm's pre-filing quality control infrastructure - verifying form editions, signatures, supporting evidence, and fee accuracy before every attorney review - reducing filing errors, rejection notices, and RFE rates by 25% firm-wide.
- Rebuilt Docketwise configurations, templates, and workflow automations across all practice areas, cutting process time on waiver and consular processing cases by 40% and providing real-time visibility into a 1,000+ case portfolio.
- Authored 10 SOPs spanning administrative and casework functions, eliminating redundant activity by 15% and establishing firm-wide procedural consistency at scale.
- Supervise and develop a 20-person paralegal and caseworker team through role-specific onboarding, ongoing training, and performance coaching aligned to firm-wide quality standards.
- Design and maintain a KPI reporting framework tracking case timelines, communication benchmarks, and workflow efficiency, translating performance data into concrete leadership decisions.
- Partner with attorneys on case strategy across the full portfolio, surfacing legal risk early and escalating time-critical matters before they become deadline failures.
- Ensure firm-wide compliance with USCIS regulations, EOIR procedural standards, and professional responsibility requirements across 1,000+ active matters.
Lead Immigration Paralegal
Green Evans-Schroeder, PLLC
Tucson, AZ
06.2025 - 11.2025
- Managed 100 concurrent active immigration cases in a fully remote environment, maintaining USCIS and EOIR deadline compliance and documentation standards equivalent to in-person practice.
- Led a 4-person paralegal team - conducting performance check-ins, reviewing all work product prior to submission, and providing case-specific instruction - producing filings that required minimal attorney correction.
- Developed 2 process guides standardizing case preparation procedures, reducing turnaround time by 10% and providing a shared operational reference for complex immigration filings.
- Generated weekly caseload aging reports and translated findings into actionable workflow recommendations, reducing case aging by 10% and maintaining 100% court appearance and filing deadline compliance.
- Prepared and submitted application packets and evidentiary materials to USCIS, EOIR, and other federal agencies across a 100-case removal defense docket.
- Collaborated with attorneys at case inception to identify legal risk, flag evidentiary weaknesses, and align on case strategy before documentation collection began.
Immigration Paralegal
Saenz-Garcia Law Firm, PLLC - Deportation Defense
Dallas, TX
06.2024 - 05.2025
- Managed 300 active deportation and removal defense cases from intake through resolution, sustaining approximately 150 USCIS and EOIR filings per month with no gaps in accuracy or statutory compliance.
- Prepared and filed approximately 150 complex immigration motions, applications, and appeals per month across a four-attorney practice, meeting every statutory deadline without exception.
- Earned Top Performer recognition for three consecutive quarters - highest filing submission volume among paralegal staff, with zero attorney-flagged accuracy issues throughout the recognition period.
- Delivered case services in English and Spanish without interpreters to a 90% Spanish-speaking removal defense caseload, ensuring direct and unmediated legal communication at every stage of proceedings.
- Assembled hearing exhibits, briefing notes, and preparation materials across a 300-case active docket, positioning attorneys and clients for court hearings and EOIR appearances.
Hearing Officer I & II
Texas Workforce Commission
Arlington, TX
10.2020 - 06.2024
- Adjudicated 45-50 unemployment insurance entitlement appeals per week under federal and Texas administrative law, sustaining a 99% decision accuracy rate across thousands of claims over nearly four years.
- Issued written decisions affirming, modifying, or reversing prior rulings - grounded in hearing testimony, evidentiary record, and controlling statute - with a 99% accuracy rate that held through appellate review.
- Applied controlling statutes, agency regulations, and precedent decisions to prepare for hearings; questioned witnesses, ruled on evidentiary matters, and maintained procedural order throughout proceedings.
- Completed a high-volume special assignment, independently adjudicating 40 targeted appeals within a compressed timeline without compromising decision quality or statutory compliance.
- Promoted from Hearing Officer I to Hearing Officer II - formal agency recognition of analytical judgment, impartiality, and precision in administrative legal writing.
Law Clerk
Law Office of Vernal Farnum
Dallas, TX
05.2020 - 08.2020
- Conducted initial client consultations via teleconference and in-person under attorney supervision, gathering case-critical facts and assessing immigration eligibility across family-based and humanitarian matters.
- Researched and synthesized public charge regulation changes, briefed senior attorneys on updated USCIS standards, and implemented revised office procedures that absorbed increased workload without operational disruption.
- Supervised paralegal staff and reviewed USCIS application packets prior to senior attorney approval, catching errors at the pre-submission stage before they became filing issues.
- Reviewed FOIA and Privacy Act requests for legal sufficiency before DHS submission; maintained the firm's FOIA tracking system to monitor agency response timelines and escalate overdue requests.
Lead Immigration Paralegal
Ruth Lane and Associates, PLLC
Arlington, TX
02.2018 - 05.2020
- Managed 200 active immigration matters covering family-based petitions, inadmissibility waivers, U-visas, VAWA, asylum, naturalization, cancellation of removal, DACA, and TPS - maintaining consistent preparation standards across all case types.
- Submitted 15 USCIS Ombudsman and expedite requests on behalf of clients with stalled cases, securing accelerated adjudication on 50% of submitted requests.
- Supervised and developed 2 paralegals through targeted instruction and direct performance feedback, improving submission accuracy and reducing case cycle times across the practice.
- Corresponded with USCIS, EOIR, and other federal agencies on behalf of 200 active clients to resolve procedural roadblocks, address evidentiary deficiencies, and advance stalled cases.
- Prepared BIA appeal packets, bond hearing materials, cancellation of removal applications, and consular processing files, building each package around evidentiary strategy aligned with attorney case theory.
Senior Immigration Paralegal
Davis and Associates, PLLC
Addison, TX
04.2017 - 12.2017
- Led a firm-wide case status audit across 5,000+ active client files, identifying at-risk matters, documenting irregularities, and building remediation protocols that restored lapsed cases to compliance.
- Supervised and developed a 10-person paralegal team, identifying performance gaps and delivering targeted training that reduced attorney correction rates and shortened case cycle times.
- Drafted responses to 50+ RFEs and Notices of Intent to Deny from USCIS - analyzing officer objections, rebuilding evidentiary arguments, and constructing legal responses that defended client petition viability.
- Administered 100+ FOIA and Privacy Act requests end-to-end - reviewing for legal sufficiency, tracking agency response timelines, and escalating overdue requests in compliance with DHS procedural requirements.
- Mapped cross-departmental workflow inefficiencies and rebuilt case management procedures in collaboration with multiple teams, eliminating redundant steps and realigning operations around client outcomes.
Immigration Paralegal
Schwamkrug, Freshwater & Lopez, PLLC
Richardson, TX
01.2017 - 03.2017
- Prepared removal defense case materials - client declarations, motions, and evidentiary packages - for asylum and cancellation of removal proceedings before EOIR under attorney supervision.
- Compiled VAWA and U-Visa documentation and certification packages, organizing evidence to USCIS evidentiary standards for complete attorney review and submission.
- Researched case-specific procedural requirements and briefed attorneys on regulatory developments affecting active removal defense matters.
- Maintained accurate case files and tracked filing deadlines across the active docket to ensure timely submission and EOIR hearing compliance.
Senior Immigration Paralegal
Ortiz Law Firm
Irving, TX
05.2014 - 12.2016
- Prepared 15 EB-1A extraordinary ability I-140 petitions - including petition narratives, cover letters, and evidentiary packages documenting sustained national and international acclaim - achieving a 90% USCIS approval rate.
- Led RFE and NOID response strategy for 8 EB-1A petitions, dissecting officer objections, rebuilding evidentiary arguments, and producing submission-ready response packages - securing approval on 5 of 8 contested matters.
- Reviewed and restructured approximately 50 letters of recommendation for EB-1A petitions, aligning each letter with overall petition theory and USCIS extraordinary ability adjudication criteria.
- Managed 250 active immigration matters simultaneously alongside EB-1A petition development, holding deadlines and filing quality standards across a high-volume caseload without dedicated employment-based staff.
- Built and led a 15-paralegal team - conducting performance reviews, delivering case-specific instruction, and reviewing all work product before attorney submission - producing filings that required minimal attorney correction.
- Rebuilt case management policies in response to regulatory changes and trained 15 paralegal staff on updated USCIS procedures, closing compliance gaps at the pre-submission stage.
Immigration Paralegal / Receptionist
Law Office of Ruth Lane
Arlington, TX
03.2010 - 05.2014
- Prepared a broad range of family-based immigration petitions, organizing supporting documentation and evidence packages to USCIS evidentiary standards for attorney review and submission.
- Drafted and sent correspondence to government agencies and clients, tracking responses and following up proactively to move cases through the adjudication process.
- Worked directly with clients to gather, organize, and verify all documentation required for their immigration benefit requests, ensuring completeness before attorney review.
- Provided Spanish interpretation and translation for clients and case materials throughout all stages of proceedings, enabling accurate and direct communication without interpreters.
- Delivered weekly case status and accounting reports to the supervising attorney, maintaining firm-wide visibility on caseload progress and outstanding items.
Member Services Coordinator
American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)
Washington, DC
01.2007 - 08.2009
- Managed enrollment and annual renewal for 11,000 AILA attorney members, sustaining the membership infrastructure that supported the organization's referral network and professional development programming.
- Administered the attorney referral service for 3,500 participating members, overseeing eligibility determinations, enrollment processing, and ongoing member communications.
- Contributed to a full overhaul of AILA's public-facing referral service website, improving the user experience for individuals, employers, and legal practitioners accessing immigration legal services.
- Created bilingual English and Spanish content for marketing materials and member communications, extending AILA's reach to its full audience with accuracy across both languages.
Education
J.D. - Law
University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law
05.2020
B.A. - History & Political Science
Texas Christian University
12.2012
Skills
- EB-1A Extraordinary Ability Petitions (I-140)
- Pre-Filing Quality Control & Review
- RFE & NOID Response Strategy
- SOP Development & Implementation
- Removal Defense & EOIR Practice
- Team Leadership & Paralegal Mentorship
- Family-Based Immigration & Consular Processing
- Case Management & Workflow Optimization
- Inadmissibility Waivers (I-601 / I-601A / I-212)
- USCIS Adjudication Standards & Compliance
- Asylum, VAWA, U-Visa & Humanitarian Relief
- Bilingual Communication: English & Spanish
- Technology: Docketwise
- Technology: INSZoom
- Technology: LawLogix
- Technology: PACER
- Technology: ECAS
- Technology: EOIR Portals
- Technology: ICE E-Serve
- Technology: LexisNexis
- Technology: Westlaw
- Technology: Microsoft Office Suite
- Technology: Adobe Acrobat Pro
Notary Public
State of Texas
Timeline
Legal Operations Specialist
Mann Law Group
12.2025 - Current
Lead Immigration Paralegal
Green Evans-Schroeder, PLLC
06.2025 - 11.2025
Immigration Paralegal
Saenz-Garcia Law Firm, PLLC - Deportation Defense
06.2024 - 05.2025
Hearing Officer I & II
Texas Workforce Commission
10.2020 - 06.2024
Law Clerk
Law Office of Vernal Farnum
05.2020 - 08.2020
Lead Immigration Paralegal
Ruth Lane and Associates, PLLC
02.2018 - 05.2020
Senior Immigration Paralegal
Davis and Associates, PLLC
04.2017 - 12.2017
Immigration Paralegal
Schwamkrug, Freshwater & Lopez, PLLC
01.2017 - 03.2017
Senior Immigration Paralegal
Ortiz Law Firm
05.2014 - 12.2016
Immigration Paralegal / Receptionist
Law Office of Ruth Lane
03.2010 - 05.2014
Member Services Coordinator
American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)
01.2007 - 08.2009
B.A. - History & Political Science
Texas Christian University
J.D. - Law
University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law