Prerna Lal

A monumental civil rights advocate, Attorney Prerna Lal pioneered a robust network of highly-organized and diverse undocumented youth with digital engagement capacity, and fought against the deportations of immigrant community members. This model of organizing spurred immigration organizations across the country to fight against deportations, and laid the groundwork for the Obama Administration’s “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)” program. For this, Attorney Lal received awards and recognition in the community, including the Changemaker of the Year award from the South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT). ABC News has listed Lal as among the “Top 20 Immigration Experts to Follow on Twitter” while Ms Magazine has recognized them as one of the “50 Feminist Women to Follow” and Colorlines has showcased them in “Here’s 15 Smart Women of Color on Twitter.” Prerna Lal has also worked at leading law firms and non-profits on both sides of the country, focusing on employment and family-based immigration law. As a law clerk, Attorney Lal worked at Trow & Rahal P.C., specializing in corporate and employment immigration matters, and at Benach Collopy LLP, specializing in complex immigration federal court litigation and removal defense. As a policy attorney in Washington D.C., Attorney Lal worked at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC to craft federal policies such as extended DACA, DAPA, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Nepal and parole-in-place for the family members of Filipino war veterans. Most of these policies remain in place even under the Trump Administration. Most recently, Attorney Lal served as the sole immigration counsel for over 500 students and their family members at the University of California, Berkeley, creating and sustaining the most successful school-based legal services program in the US. Lal now runs their own successful law firm.