“I am passionate about helping guide our clients toward safety, stability, and new beginnings.”.

Karah Ashley

Karah Ashley is a Family Paralegal at our Pennsylvania office. With nearly seven years of experience in immigration law, her primary focus is family-based immigration, and she brings extensive experience in both family and litigation matters while maintaining a strong appreciation for the litigation side of the practice. Her career in the field began when she accepted a temporary receptionist role at a law firm handling both family and immigration matters, where she quickly advanced, was promoted, and found her professional calling. Karah holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Adolescent Education from Houghton University and is fluent in English and Spanish.

Giving families the opportunity to be reunited makes everything worth it.”

Yazmin Martinez-Romero

As an immigrant child herself, Yazmin encountered all the obstacles facing someone starting a new life. Now, with years of experience as a paralegal, she brings her skills and understanding to her community, helping Dreamers get their documentation and working with Naturalization and other family-based cases. Yazmin considers her job to be a personal cause: helping the Latin American community overcome challenges on the path to citizenship.

“I am passionate about helping people pursue their dreams and access opportunities in the United States.”.”

Christian Mafra

Christian Mafra is a Family Paralegal at Hogan & Vandenberg’s Pennsylvania office. With previous experience in immigration law, his background includes working in detained cases, litigation, and family-based matters. Driven by a lifelong commitment to LGBTQ+ rights and human rights advocacy, he was inspired to pursue immigration law through his work with immigrant communities from diverse backgrounds. Witnessing the unique challenges and aspirations of immigrants motivated him to dedicate his career to helping individuals and families navigate the legal system and build brighter futures. He primarily supports the Family Department while drawing on his experience across multiple areas of immigration law.

Christian attended college studies in Social Sciences and Human Resources and is fluent in Portuguese and English, with intermediate proficiency in Spanish.

I am passionate about helping clients to navigate the complex immigration system to make them feel comfortable making decisions that will impact their lives.”

Maria Pinto Alvarez

Maria is a paralegal working for individual and family-based cases in our Wilmington office. With social work and customer service experience, she understands that our clients need answers that will help them to make educated decisions. As an immigrant, she knows that adequate counseling and accurate information are critical to success. Her goal is to assist clients and make them feel supported and safe to trust our firm. Maria has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and speaks English and Spanish.

I care about helping families navigate complex legal processes with confidence and peace of mind.”

Melissa Tineo

Melissa Tineo is a Family Paralegal at HV Law Group. She has been serving the Latino community since 2024, when she worked with a nonprofit organization assisting individuals with USCIS forms and interpreting during interviews. Inspired by this work, alongside her experience working as an executive assistant for an attorney’s office, she officially began her career in immigration law, while focusing her expertise on Family Law, where she takes pride in advocating for clients and helping them achieve positive outcomes.

Melissa has AA in Paralegal Studies and is fluent in English and Spanish.

Jennifer Lagunas-Gutierrez

I feel passionate about helping other immigrants who are looking for better lives in this country”

Elianny Lopez Taribas

Elianny is a paralegal in the DE office specializing in litigation immigration. The first brush with immigration was during her own case for her student visa. Since then, she has been gaining more and more experience and working at HV Law Group to help other immigrants to emigrate successfully and fulfill their dreams.

Elianny has a bachelor’s from abroad and speaks English and Spanish.