S2E5 | From the Courtroom to Detention

Radhika sits down with Nora Phillips to talk about about her work as the co-founder of the non-profit organization Al Otro Lado, which provides legal and mental health services to immigrants, refugees, and deportees, in Los Angeles and Tijuana. Nora and two other humanitarians were placed on a secret government watch list to gather information and disrupt their work. Beginning in October 2018, the government tracked their movements and actions, as well as harassed them at the border. Phillips was refused entry to Mexico, separated from her family, detained, and forcibly returned to the United States. Nora serves as Legal Director of Al Otro Lado. Nora has a deep commitment to immigrant justice and, prior to starting her firm, worked at non-profit legal services organizations such as the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) in Los Angeles (2009-2014) and the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago where she was an Equal Justice Works Fellow (2007-2009). Nora is a nationally-recognized expert on the U visa and frequently presents on this and other topics to attorneys, law enforcement, and other professionals. Nora frequently works as a consultant expert with the Office of the Federal Public Defender on complex U visa cases. Nora is a member of the Executive Committee for the Immigration Law Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. She has been licensed to practice law in Illinois and she exclusively practices federal immigration law. Nora lives in Los Angeles.