Mary Jo (AKA “Maria Jose;” pronouns she/ella) started her adult life as a 4th-grade teacher in San Diego, California. Years later, she had the fortune to be a stay-at-home-mom to her now-adult children. After moving to Colorado, Mary Jo stumbled into law through immigration activism, specifically through working with a mother who was living in Sanctuary at a church in Boulder. That path inspired her to pursue immigration law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law where she was a Sturm Scholar and also worked with the Immigration Law and Policy Clinic where she first met Hans Meyer. The intersection of criminal law and immigration especially interested Mary Jo when she worked in the DU clinic and led to a summer job at the Meyer Law Office. Mary Jo also worked with RMIAN’s Children’s Program during her time at DU, providing her the opportunity to work with unaccompanied minors and other immigrant youth. As law school came to a close, Mary Jo returned to the area of her passion – crimmigration – and is honored to now be an official member of the Meyer Law Office.