Mike’s career has focused on designing and administering immigration legal services programs and working to ensure legal representation for all people facing deportation. He joins Acacia from the Vera Institute of Justice, where he worked to advance federal and state immigration policies and previously directed the National Qualified Representative Program, which provides representation for detained immigrants with serious mental health conditions. Before joining Vera, Mike advocated for reforms to the immigration system and trained health professionals to conduct forensic evaluations of asylum seekers at Physicians for Human Rights, and represented detained immigrants at the Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project. Mike holds a BA in political science and Middle Eastern Studies from George Washington University, an MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University, and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center.