Victoria Mora has over 18 years of experience in immigration law and has dedicated her career to defending immigrant rights, advocating for justice, and supporting children and families in their journeys through our complex immigration system. She has worked in both the nonprofit and private sectors bringing extensive experience designing and implementing strategic programs that support legal program goals and the mental health needs of staff. For years, Victoria has been a resource and mentor to practitioners on unaccompanied children’s matters and mental health issues. She has developed and conducted multiple trainings on immigration topics, including special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS), removal defense, adjustment of status, asylum, VAWA, family-based immigration, citizenship/naturalization, trauma-informed lawyering, Texas state court practice, and self-care.

Prior to joining Acacia, Victoria served as Managing Attorney of Technical Assistance and Training at ABA Children’s Immigration Law Academy (CILA) where she was responsible for the direction, coordination, and provision of technical assistance to organizations within CILA’s state and national networks. She was also a Supervising Attorney at the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) in Austin, and is most proud of her success in creating a culture within the Released Children’s Program that was resoundingly collaborative and supportive through the strategic implementation of systems, processes, and practices that helped her team provide high-quality legal services while improving employee job satisfaction, and minimizing burnout. Before RAICES, Victoria was a founding partner of the Mora Ortiz Law Firm, where most of her practice was focused on unaccompanied children’s cases, family-based matters, and humanitarian relief. Her work in unaccompanied children matters began when she served as a Supervising Attorney with Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) in Houston, Texas where she supervised staff and mentored volunteer attorneys. Victoria holds a J.D. from St. Mary’s University School of Law and a B.S. in Public Relations from The University of Texas at Austin. She enjoys spending time with her family, including her dogs and hedgehog, Archie. She unwinds by going to Target, reading, building Lego sets, and rewatching episodes of The Office.