Immigration & Human Rights Law
When the stakes are highest, you need a lawyer who has been there.
Jessica Smith Bobadilla has spent two decades fighting complex immigration and human rights cases in federal courts. She takes the cases others won't.
- 20+ Years Of Focused Experience
- Appellate Wins In Federal Courts
- Nationwide Complex Case Representation
- Featured In National Media Outlets
By the numbers
Two decades of federal practice.
The shape of a practice tells you what it is built to do. These are the rooms we work in, the courts we know, and the languages we work in. We do not take every case that walks through the door. We take the cases we can fight well, where strategy and preparation actually move the outcome. Below is what we practice and how we approach it.
20+
Years in immigration practice
9
Federal circuits litigated
9th
Circuit admitted
Bilingual
Counsel in English and Spanish
National
Representation across the United States
When your future is on the line
Complex immigration and human rights litigation for the highest-stakes cases.
- 01
Appeals & Federal Litigation
Federal court petitions, BIA appeals, and complex administrative review for cases that demand a sharper record.
→ - 02
Asylum & Protection
Affirmative and defensive asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture claims built on careful evidentiary work.
→ - 03
Deportation Defense
Removal proceedings, bond hearings, and motions to reopen, including matters previously denied by another firm.
→ - 04
Family-Based Immigration
Petitions, waivers, and consular processing for families navigating long timelines and difficult prior records.
→
/ United States Courthouse, appellate division
Why this firm
Other lawyers send us their denials.
The hardest immigration cases are not the ones that go smoothly. They are the cases already denied at the asylum office, ordered removed by an immigration judge, or tangled with old criminal records and prior counsel mistakes.
Those are the cases this office was built for. We rebuild the record, identify the legal openings other attorneys missed, and take cases into federal court when that is what the law allows.
Process
From intake to courtroom.
Every case begins with a careful look at the file. We do not promise outcomes before we have read the evidence.
- 01
Listen
A focused conversation about your facts, your record, and what you actually need.
- 02
Investigate
We pull the files, read every page, and find what other lawyers missed.
- 03
Strategize
A clear written plan, the realistic outcomes, and the work it will take.
- 04
Litigate
Court filings, hearings, and federal review carried by an attorney who knows your case.
/ The Law Office of Jessica Smith Bobadilla
She read every page of a file three other firms had already given up on, and found the legal argument that brought my husband home.
Personal
A note from
Jessica
If you are reading this, something in your life has gone harder than it should have. A denial arrived. A loved one was detained. A case you thought was finished opened back up. I know how that feels, because I have sat across from hundreds of people on the worst day of their year.
I started this office because I wanted to do the work the way I would want it done for my own family. That means I read your file myself. I tell you the truth about what I see, even when it is not what you hoped to hear. And if I take your case, I carry it. Not a junior associate. Not a paralegal practicing on your record. Me.
Immigration law is unforgiving, but it is not hopeless. The right argument, made at the right time, by someone who has read every page, can change the outcome. If that is the kind of representation you are looking for, I would like to hear from you.
Jessica Smith Bobadilla
Founding Attorney
Featured & cited in
Selected press.
- The Fresno Bee
- Univisión
- Los Angeles Times
- NPR All Things Considered
Begin the conversation
Bring us the case nobody else wanted to take.
Initial consultations are limited and reviewed personally. Tell us what is happening and we will respond within two business days.
Request a consultationA different kind of immigration practice
Built for the cases other attorneys treat as routine.
Immigration law looks like paperwork. It is actually a federal civil system with criminal consequences, decades-old precedent, and very little forgiveness for a form filed wrong. Most people do not learn that until something has already gone wrong.
Our office takes a small number of matters at a time on purpose. Every case is carried by Jessica directly. The file you bring in is the file she reads, the brief she writes, and the argument she presents. There is no junior associate practicing on your record.
That model is slower than the volume firms. It is also why our clients get a real answer about whether to fight, settle, or refile. If we cannot help, we say so on the first call. If we can, we tell you what the work will look like before you sign anything.
