Melissa G. Shepard

Melissa G. Shepard oversees ImmDef's Community Defense Project based out of the Santa Ana Office as well as the San Diego Office and Cross-Border Initiative. She provides universal representation in removal defense cases and represents clients before EOIR, USCIS and the Asylum Office in a variety of immigration matters including: affirmative asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status petitions and adjustment of status. She also represents Unaccompanied Minors before the California State Courts in Guardianship and Custody Proceedings. She conducts research on immigration implications of criminal proceedings and coordinates with legal counsel to maximize immigration protections.

She has extensive experience in complex family-based immigration cases including conditional green card waivers, VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) petitions, inadmissibility waivers, I-751 waivers, asylum cases, and U visas. She has experience in citizenship and naturalization as well as marriage based green cards and represents LGBT individuals in waivers, political asylum and marriage based green card cases. She is fluent in Spanish.

Melissa has represented individuals in removal proceedings throughout the U.S. She has represented the Southern California Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) as an Asylum Office Liaison (2016-2018, 2022-2024) and Pro-Bono liaison (2018-2020), encouraging other attorneys to volunteer their time. She served on the AILA National Online Course and Recorded Content Review Committee (2023-2024), VAWA, U's and T visas committee (2021-2022) and the AILA National California Service Center Committee (2019 - 2020). She is a past Chair of the Orange County Bar Association's Immigration Section (2020).

Melissa has volunteered her time at the LACBA Domestic Violence Project and at community based pro-bono clinics. Melissa has volunteered to assist detained asylum seekers in immigration removal proceedings through the Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project, and she has represented unaccompanied children in jeopardy of being removed through Kids in Need of Defense (KIND).

Melissa earned her Juris Doctor degree from Whittier Law School where she participated in national moot court competitions and served as Clerical Justice for the Moot Court Honors Board. She also served as the President of the Hispanic American Law Students Association at Whittier Law School.

Melissa graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies. She was a member of the NCAA Division I Swimming Program and a Scholar Athlete Award Recipient.