Gloria Contreras Edin

Activist, Business leader, Business mentor, Connector, Entrepreneur, Lawyer

Gloria Contreras Edin has advised on thousands of matters involving clients from more than 25 countries in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, & Asia on a wide range of complicated and sensitive immigration issues. Ms. Contreras Edin has a great deal of experience in dealing with state courts, federal courts, and federal immigration agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs, Enforcement (ICE),U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP),U.S. Department of State (DOS),U.S. District Court of Minnesota,Minnesota Supreme Court,Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR),Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA),U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Administrative Appeals Office (AAO). Ms. Contreras Edin represents clients in multiple contexts including but not limited to: bond hearings, affirmative applications for immigration benefits, family petitions, hardship petitions, post-conviction relief, waivers of inadmissibility, obtaining legal status and green cards, consular processing, obtaining immigrant and/or nonimmigrant visas, becoming a U.S. citizen, VAWA petitions, etc. Ms. Contreras Edin is a zealous advocate for her clients and is committed to helping families stay together in the United States. Ms. Contreras Edin is active in the community has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards for her outstanding service. Ms. Contreras Edin works tirelessly to protect the rights of children and adults facing removal from the United States and has served on numerous state-wide commissions, committees, and boards. Ms. Contreras Edin writes and presents frequently on immigration and civil rights matters. In 2015, she co-authored a chapter in the Immigration Practice Deskbook. Ms. Contreras Edin has presented on a variety of issues, including how the Constitution interacts with immigration laws and the impact of immigration laws on women and children.

Protecting and defending women, children, LQBTQI, immigrants & refugees. As a lawyer, I recognize that I have been given a platform to share the stories of others in a way that has great implications on the future of the individual, the community and our country. The responsibility to tell that story comes with a reverence for those whom I most care about – my clients. In my work, I am passionate about making sure that the concepts of freedom and justice are for ALL and not just for those who can afford it. I truly believe that when we defend and protect immigrants and refugees in our legal system, we do the same for our citizens by reinforcing the basic constitutional and due process protections afforded to every person in the United States.

Immigrants are an engine of growth and change. Characteristic of immigrants is energy and drive. They are driven by hope, they are the ones courageous enough to leave, they are filled with aspirations of improving their lives, themselves and their families. They are not the ones who stay at home. Immigrants create businesses, create neighborhoods, work where others will not, and usually harder than those already there, because they have to. Immigrants add vitality, color, language, music, perspective, and vital differences, and by their nature they challenge the status quo, create a dialectic, and change culture. Immigration is central to the evolution and growth of society, its’ people, and the vitality and strength of and our ever-changing identity. We owe a debt to those who have come before, should look to those who are here now, and perhaps learn, and be grateful for those who will come in the future and add to who we are.

Asylum protection for women, children, LGBTQI, Deportation Defense, Federal Impact Litigation, Immigration law, Small business ownership

I thrive on empowering others. I do this by sharing my personal story as a high school drop-out, single mom in East LA; I also do this through the law – I use the law to empower my clients and to give them the keys to unlock their potential, I also empower a Spanish speaking immigrant community through education during my weekly radio show. I empower young lawyers by teaching them how to navigate immigration laws, and complex litigation issues. I’m also good at negotiating complex issues and finding resolution when there’s disagreement among the parties. Finally, people don’t know that I’m extraordinarily generous. It’s my greatest joy to change the life a person through a gift of money, education or a personal connection.