Disrupting Deportation: How to Effectively Vacate Convictions for Immigration Purposes

Carla Gomez is a Senior Staff Attorney in San Francisco where she focuses on the intersection of criminal and immigration law, including post-conviction relief. Carla has over 20 years of criminal defense experience as both a federal and county public defender and has extensive experience as an immigration defense attorney.Prior to coming to the ILRC, Carla started her career as a Federal Public Defender in San Diego where she tried over 15 federal felony trials, argued several times before the Ninth Circuit resulting in published opinions including U.S. v. Ramirez, 273 F.3d 903, (9th Cir. 2001). Carla then became a San Francisco Public Defender where she practiced for over 15 years as a felony attorney, and, in 2017, she was part of the team that spearheaded the Immigration Unit.Carla has successfully defended the most challenging cases in immigration court where her clients with serious felonies have won asylum, withholding, the Convention Against Torture and readjustment of status. Her successful post-conviction relief practice throughout California including Monterey, San Mateo, San Joaquin, Sonoma, Kern, Fresno, Sacramento, and Pasadena has saved lawful permanent residents with aggravated felonies from deportation and allowed immigrants to adjust their status.Carla earned her undergraduate degree from U.C. Berkeley and her J.D. from the University of San Francisco where she participated in the United Nations Working Group on Migrant Farm Workers in Geneva. Carla is fluent in Spanish and conversant in French.