Ana Maria Gracia | Attorney

Ana M. Gracia is an immigration attorney with Jezic & Moyse. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Gracia worked for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington. At Catholic Charities, Ms. Gracia successfully represented individuals before U.S immigration courts, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, Board of Immigration Appeals, and Maryland State Courts. She has been a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and DC Hispanic Bar Association since 2019. She currently serves in the DC Hispanic Bar Association Public Service and Social Events committees. Ms. Gracia has volunteered with the American Civil Liberties Union and participated in the Justice-Free Zones: U.S. Immigration Detention Under the Trump Administration research report. She has also volunteered with Human Rights Watch’s Voices for Justice project.

Before becoming an attorney, Ms. Gracia earned a Master’s of Law Degree in Law and Government with a specialization in immigration and policy from American University Washington College of Law. Ms. Gracia was awarded the Program on Law and Government Merit scholarship and received the Judge Jerry Hermele Book Award. During her time at American University, Ms. Gracia worked at the Immigration Justice Clinic, as a Dean’s Fellow, and assisted in representing individuals before the Arlington Asylum Office, Board of Immigration Appeals, and State Department. At the same time, Ms. Gracia completed an externship with the American Bar Association’s Commission on Immigration. Her externship consisted of working with detainees in ICE custody conducting remote individual orientations and assisting them with their immigration proceedings. Ms. Gracia drafted a pro se Stay of Removal, Exclusion, and Deportation Guide, and a pro se Cancellation of Removal guide.

Ms. Gracia received her J.D. Degree from St. Thomas University College of Law and her B.A. degrees in Political Science and International Relations from Florida International University.

During her law school career, Ms. Gracia provided direct representation at her law school’s immigration clinic. As a law student representative, Ms. Gracia represented individuals before U.S. immigration courts, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Board of Immigration Appeals. Of particular note was her successful advocacy in a detained client’s appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals, applying Dimaya v. Sessions (2018), to a Florida criminal statute, engaging in the technical “categorical approach” for analyzing the immigration consequences of criminal convictions, and convincing the Board of Immigration Appeals to both reverse a final order of removal and terminate removal proceedings.

Ms. Gracia served as her law school’s Vice President of the Environmental Law Society (2016 - 2018); the Social Chair of the Immigration Law Students Association (2018-2019); and the membership coordinator of the International Moot Court team. Ms. Gracia was awarded the Pro Bono Commendation Certificate in the Spring of 2018 and 2019. Throughout law school, Ms. Gracia interned at the Miami Dade Office of the State Attorney’s where she assisted prosecutors in trial preparation, expungement proceedings, and screening cases.

Ms. Gracia was born in Bogota, Colombia and migrated to the United States when she was 7 year-old. She witnessed her father represent their family, pro se, before the Miami immigration court and then the Board of Immigration Appeals before being granted Asylum in 2001. Ms. Gracia’s own journey as an immigrant has shaped the passion, she has for immigration law.

In her spare time, Ms. Gracia enjoys playing chess and is part of the District Chess Club in Washington, DC. She enjoys the outdoors, working out, hiking, kayaking, biking, traveling and leisure reading.