With immigration law under attack, the award-winning short documentary Status Pending follows five Mexican-American immigration lawyers who form a support group as they strive to help their clients obtain safety and status in the United States. Through their friendship and constant communication, Araceli G. Guerrero, Alma D. Puente, Gladdys J. Uribe, Elizabeth P. Uribe and Jose Osorio provide professional and emotional support for each other as they navigate the constant attacks on their clients and profession.
On April 21, the Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic, alongside LLS Alumna Maria Villa '86, hosted a screening and panel discussion of the film, helping to bring further to light the struggles of immigrant advocates fighting on the front line and to share the realities and future of immigration law practice. The post-film discussion is linked here, to learn more about the film and for information on upcoming screenings or on-demand viewing, visit statuspendingfilm.com.
Screening Speakers
Moderator
Maria Villa '86, Law Offices of Lathrop & Villa
Film Director and Producer
Attorneys Featured in Status Pending
Araceli G. Guerrero, Law Office of Araceli G. Guerrero
Alma D. Puente '04, Law Office of Alma D. Puente
Elizabeth P. Uribe, Uribe & Uribe APLC
Gladdys J. Uribe, Law Office of Gladdys J. Uribe
Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic Speakers
Danny Barragan '21, LIJC Student
Heidi Gonzalez '21, LIJC Student
Yanira Lemus '14, LIJC Community Services Director
H. Marissa Montes '12, LIJC Director
Speaker Bios
Danny Barragan
Danny Barragan is one of the LIJC outstanding graduating students for 2021. He has been working with the LIJC for two years. As a DACA recipient, Danny knows first-hand the obstacles faced by undocumented immigrants. He is currently seeking a fellowship to continue working in immigration law after graduation, and hopes to provide services to DACAmented and other undocumented youth and to work for policy change.
Heidi Gonzalez
Heidi Gonzalez is also a third-year student graduating from LLS in 2021, and planning to practice immigration law. Heidi has been awarded a fellowship to start an immigration clinic at another law school and follow in the footsteps of Marissa, who started the LIJC when she was a student.
Araceli G. Guerrero
Araceli G. Guerrero opened her law practice in her hometown of Santa Ana, California, where she focuses on Immigration Law. She is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the Orange County Hispanic Bar Association. She volunteers at Serve the People in Santa Ana by providing free immigration consultations. Araceli’s parents immigrated to the United States from Mexico. She graduated from UCLA and Brigham Young University Law School.
Yanira Lemus
Yanira Lemus is Director of Community Legal Services and a supervising attorney of LIJC. Yanira provides direct legal representation to clients seeking affirmative forms of immigration relief and defense in removal proceedings. She also supervises LIJC’s staff attorneys and support staff, manages grant applications and grant reporting requirements, and serves as a committee member on Loyola Marymount University’s Undocumented Student Advisory Committee. Yanira assists in the supervision and training of clinical law students engaged in community-based advocacy work. Prior to joining LIJC, Yanira was a staff attorney at Public Counsel Law Center and at Immigrant Defenders Law Center. Yanira received her J.D. from Loyola Law School and her B.A. from UCLA.
H. Marissa Montes
H. Marissa Montes is the Director and Co-Founder of the Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic. She built LIJC while in law school in response to an unmet need for free immigration legal services on the Eastside of Los Angeles. She and her co-founder were then jointly awarded Loyola’s Public Interest Fellowship, to establish the clinic and develop its immigration-lawyering curriculum for law students. In addition to the clinic, Marissa teaches courses on Cross-Cultural Competency and Trauma-Informed Lawyering, and spearheaded Loyola’s Immigration Law and Border Practicum, which includes an alternative spring break trip to El Paso, TX. Marissa serves as a visiting professor at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO) in Guadalajara, Mexico, where she teaches U.S. asylum law and serves migrant shelters. Marissa received her B.A. in International Relations and Spanish from the University of Southern California and her J.D. from Loyola Law School.
Alma D. Puente
Alma D. Puente has practiced immigration law for the last 16 years. She holds a BA degree from Chapman University in English with an emphasis on Pre - Law and a Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School. Prior to practicing law, Alma worked for the Department of Homeland Security at the Calexico Port of Entry and as an Adjudicator in Los Angeles, California. As a first-generation Mexican - American, Alma has made it her life's work to help people navigate the complexities of immigration law in this country. Throughout her career, Alma has been dedicated to providing pro bono work for non-profits such as Kids In Need of Defense (KIND) and The Mexican American Bar Association (MABA). She has also served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for foster children in Los Angeles County. She is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA), MABA, and American Immigration Lawyers’ Association (AILA). She currently serves on the board for the Immigration Resource Center of San Gabriel Valley and as a Councilwoman for the city of El Monte. Alma is married and has three sons.
Priscilla Gonzalez Sainz
Priscilla Gonzalez Sainz is an award-winning writer and filmmaker who specializes in non-fiction media. Her parents immigrated from Mexico and she grew up in Southern California. Priscilla’s work depicts migrant and first-generation stories, exploring themes of displacement, identity, and transnationalism. She hopes to tell stories that call social, cultural and perceived barriers into question. Priscilla earned her MFA in Documentary Film and Video from Stanford University, where she was awarded a Stanford Arts grant and curated the Latin American Cinema series Espejos. Her thesis film, ROOM 140, was a Student Academy Award Semifinalist and was nominated for the IDA Wolper Student Documentary Achievement Award. Her work has been supported by Tribeca Film Institute and NALIP.
After completing graduate school, Priscilla worked in her sister Araceli’s immigration law practice. She saw first-hand how the work and clients were directly affected by the Trump administration’s policy changes, and how important it was to have the professional and personal support these lawyers provided to each other.
Elizabeth P. Uribe
Elizabeth P. Uribe was born and raised in Los Angeles to immigrant parents from Jalisco, Mexico. She is a partner at Uribe & Uribe APLC, a boutique law firm defending non - U.S. citizens in criminal and immigration proceedings, including active criminal proceedings, post - conviction relief, and all aspects of deportation defense. Elizabeth is often featured as a legal commentator in English and Spanish news, including the L.A. Times, Hoy Los Angeles, CBS Los Angeles, and more. She is past President (2013) of the Mexican American Bar Association (MABA) and is currently a member of the MABA immigration committee. Elizabeth firmly believes in being an active participant of the community and currently serves on the legal advisory committee of the Immigration Resource Center of the San Gabriel Valley and as a mentor at Wilson High School (her alma mater) through the L.A. County Bar Association’s mentorship program. She holds a J.D. from UC Hastings School of Law and B.A. from UCLA.
Gladdys J. Uribe, Esq
Gladdys J. Uribe, Esq was born and raised in the Santa Ynez Valley along California’s Central Coast. She is the Principal and lead attorney with the Law Offices of Gladdys J. Uribe, an immigration law practice with offices in Culver City and Buellton, California. She serves on the Dunn School's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and on the MABA (Mexican American Bar Association) Immigration Committee. She previously served on the boards of the UCLA School of Law Marco Firebaugh Dream Fund, the Mexican American Bar Association, the Latina Lawyers Bar Association and the Dunn School. She has been featured as a legal commentator on MundoFOX 22 and Univision. Gladdys holds a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law, with concentrations in Critical Race Studies and Public Interest Law & Policy Programs, and a B.A. in Sociology from Occidental College. Gladdys is the daughter of immigrant parents from Jalisco and Baja California, Mexico, and currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two daughters.