Trina Realmuto, Executive Director
trina@immigrationlitigation.org / 617.819.4447
With over twenty-five years of experience in immigration, damages, and transparency litigation, Trina has litigated and argued numerous precedent federal court decisions on behalf of individuals, classes, and amicus curiae, written scores of practice advisories, and is a frequent presenter on immigration issues. Prior to her current position as the executive director and co-founder of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, Trina was a Directing Attorney of Litigation at the American Immigration Council (AIC). Before that, she was the Litigation Director of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild and previously worked as a consulting attorney to AIC. In addition, she has worked abroad in London and Switzerland representing noncitizens applying for visas at U.S. embassies and consulates. Trina began her career as an associate attorney at Van Der Hout LLC, a San Francisco-based immigration firm where she specialized in federal court litigation and deportation defense. In 2015, Trina was awarded the Jack Wasserman Memorial Award for Excellence in Litigation by the American Immigration Lawyers Association. She is also the 2024 recipient of the Sarah B. Ignatius Award for Justice and Excellence in Law awarded by the PAIR Project.
State Court Admissions
New York and California
Federal Court Admissions
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Courts of Appeals: First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh & DC Circuits
U.S. District Courts: Eastern, Southern, & Northern Districts of New York; Northern, Southern, Eastern, & Central Districts of California; District of Vermont; District of Connecticut
Mary Kenney, Deputy Director
mary@immigrationlitigation.org / 617.819.4681
For twenty-five years, Mary has worked to protect the rights of noncitizens, combat abusive conduct by immigration agents, and overturn unlawful policies of the immigration agencies. From 2003 to 2020, Mary was with the American Immigration Council, most recently as Directing Attorney of Litigation, where she engaged in impact litigation and authored numerous practice advisories. Prior to joining the Council, Mary was the Executive Director of a statewide immigrant and refugee rights litigation project in Texas. In that role, she oversaw impact litigation, including several class actions, and advocacy efforts. She also worked as a legal services attorney in West Virginia. In 2014, Mary was awarded the Carol King Award by the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild for her impact litigation work. In 2021, the American Immigration Lawyers Association awarded Mary the Jack Wasserman Memorial Award for Excellence in Litigation.
State Court Admission
District of Columbia
Federal Court Admissions
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Courts of Appeals: Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, & Eleventh Circuits
U.S. District Courts: District of Columbia, Northern District of Texas, Northern District of West Virginia
Kristin Macleod-Ball, Senior Staff Attorney
kristin@immigrationlitigation.org / 617.506.3646
Kristin’s career has been dedicated to defending the due process and statutory rights of immigrants. Kristin has litigated numerous individual and class action cases, filed amicus briefs, and authored practice advisories on a wide range of topics in immigration law. Prior to joining NILA, Kristin was a staff attorney at the American Immigration Council (AIC) for four years, where she co-counseled class actions, wrote amicus briefs for numerous courts of appeals, including in precedent setting cases, and authored practice advisories. She also was a litigation attorney with the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, where she focused on federal court litigation to promote the due process rights of people facing deportation. Kristin began her career as a legal fellow at AIC.
State Court Admission
New York
Federal Court Admissions
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Courts of Appeals: First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh & DC Circuits
U.S. District Courts: Eastern, Southern, and Northern Districts of New York; District of Vermont
Chris Rickerd, Special Projects Advisor
chris@immigrationlitigation.org
Chris is a border and immigration-policy consultant based in Brownsville, Texas. He was senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Political Advocacy Department, responsible for administrative and legislative advocacy on border and immigration issues from 2012 to 2019. Prior to joining the ACLU, he spent seven years at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco as a law clerk and staff attorney and then worked for the Miami law firm of Kurzban Kurzban Tetzeli and Pratt.
Maggie Kopel, Staff Attorney
maggie@immigrationlitigation.org / 617.819.4461
Maggie is focused on defending the rights of noncitizens, especially those who are experiencing immigration detention. She previously worked at Nationalities Service Center first as a fellow and later as a senior staff attorney. She clerked for Judge Gerald McHugh in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and for Chief Judge Michael Chagares on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. She currently teaches as a lecturer in law at the University of Pennsylvania Transnational Legal Clinic.
State Court Admissions
Colorado and Pennsylvania
Federal Court Admissions
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Phoenix Yuan, Administrative Coordinator
phoenix@immigrationlitigation.org
Phoenix graduated from Brandeis University in 2026, where he earned degrees in Economics and International & Global Studies. During his undergraduate studies, he served as a case manager at The Right to Immigration Institute, where he provided legal support to asylum seekers and other migrants throughout the Greater Boston area. As an immigrant himself, Phoenix is deeply passionate about immigrant rights and is excited to contribute to NILA’s mission in his role as the organization’s new Administrative Coordinator.
Dania Barrera Carrasco, Marc Van Der Hout Litigation Fellow
dania@immigrationlitigation.org
Dania recently graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School. She was a student attorney at the Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic, litigating at the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, Board of Immigration Appeals, and in immigration court. She previously worked at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid as a law clerk, where she helped staff their immigration community legal clinic and worked primarily on U visa and Special Immigrant Juvenile cases. Dania also has experience working with agricultural workers on H-2A visas and volunteering with the Advocates for Human Rights as an immigration court observer.
National Immigration Litigation Alliance, Inc.
Email: info@immigrationlitigation.org
Tel: (617) 819-4649