Staff

Lizzette joined the Michigan Immigrants Rights Center in January 2020 as a bilingual legal assistant working specifically with unaccompanied children in Long Term Foster Care, and is now a Supervising Program Coordinator on the same team. Lizzette is a California native, born and raised in Los Angeles, who’s parents immigrated from Mexico and El Salvador. She is dedicated to advocating for immigrant rights, and mental health. Lizzette worked many years providing interpretation services for the Latinx community in Michigan courts and it’s partnering agencies like the Children’s Assessment Center. She is state certified as a Judicial Interpreter for the Spanish language and recently became certified in Mental Health First Aid.

Magid Shaibi is a Law Graduate with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center’s Unaccompanied Children’s team in Ypsilanti. Magid studied Criminal Justice at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and earned his law degree from The University of Toledo College of Law.

Mariana Santos is a Paralegal for Unaccompanied Refugee Minors on the Unaccompanied Children Team in Grand Rapids. She recently graduated from Aquinas College with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and a minor in legal studies. Mariana was born in the Grand Rapids, but was brought up in the Wyoming area. Mariana has always had a passion for immigrant rights and social justice issues. She has been dedicated to helping out the community by interning at Immigrant Connection at City Life Church in GR and served as a Diversity Assistant during her time at Aquinas. Her goal is to eventually become an immigration attorney herself. Mariana is also a Department of Justice (DOJ) Accredited Representative.

Mayra Garcia is a Legal Assistant based in our Washtenaw office. She recently graduated from Eastern Michigan University with her B.A. in Business Administration and a minor in Communications. Mayra grew up in Southwest Detroit and was raised by immigrant parents who immigrated from Mexico. Her parents experience has encouraged her to learn more about immigration law. Mayra is fluent in Spanish.

Mel Moeinvaziri is the Detroit Front Door staff attorney with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. She specializes in asylum, deportation defense, and detained cases. Prior to joining MIRC, Mel spent several years in private immigration practice and taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Utah College of Law. In her teaching role, she accompanied law students to the border to assist detained immigrants. Mel earned her J.D. from the University of Utah College of Law and her master’s degree in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies from the University of Oxford, Oxford England. Mel was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. When she is not jumping out of airplanes or scaling rock cliffs, Mel dedicates time to advocating with and for the immigrant and refugee community.

Mohamed Slim is a Law Graduate with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center’s Unaccompanied Children’s team. Mohamed studied Psychology at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and earned his law degree from The University of Toledo College of Law. Mohamed comes from a family of immigrants. This led to his pursuit of immigration law in order to help those searching for a better life overcome the hardships that are associated with immigration.

Molli is a Paralegal on the UC Released Team at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. She started at MIRC as an Intake Coordinator. She has 20 years of experience as a bi-lingual advocate in Washtenaw County; working in the fields of domestic violence, sexual assault intervention/prevention and public health. Molli graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a B.A. in Social Science and Fine Art. She speaks fluent Spanish, loves to dance, take walks in nature, spend time with her family & friends, volunteer, and fight for social justice in our society.

Polina Hristova is a Supervising Attorney with Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, where she is a part of MIRC’s unaccompanied children’s team. Polina received her B.A. from University of Michigan, where she was a part of the Undocumented Migration Project, a long-term anthropological study aimed at humanizing the migrant experience and raising awareness about the harsh reality of migrating north from Central America and Mexico. In May 2020, Polina received her J.D. from Michigan State University College of Law. During law school, Polina served as a student clinician for the Michigan State University Immigration Law Clinic, where she represented clients in a variety of immigration matters. Polina is originally from Sofia, Bulgaria and moved to Michigan with her family in 1998.

Ruby is a managing attorney at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. He focuses primarily on humanitarian relief for victims of domestic violence/crime, as well as naturalization matters. He is also very familiar with the immigration consequences for criminal behavior, specifically Michigan offenses. Ruby graduated from Wayne State University Law School and the University of Michigan. Before joining MIRC, he worked for Lakeshore Legal Aid. During law school, Ruby was a student attorney with the school's Asylum and Immigration Law Clinic. Prior to law school, Ruby served as an AmeriCorps*VISTA in Brooklyn, NY.

Sara Afshar joined MIRC's Afghan Arrivals team as a Staff Attorney in 2022. Previously, she practiced family and humanitarian-based immigration law in Massachusetts with a focus on representing unaccompanied minors in removal proceedings. In addition to her J.D., Sara has an M.F.A. in Poetry from the University of Michigan 's Helen Zell Writing Program. Sara writes about mental health topics particular to displaced populations, informed by her own family's experience of the refugee process.  She owns and operates an urban flower farm in Ypsilanti alongside her cattle-dog/chihuahua mix, Daisy.

Sestina Real joined MIRC’s Unaccompanied Children’s Program as a Staff Attorney in March of 2022. Ses is a first generation college student and law student who is determined to dismantle existing structural inequities by any means necessary. Prior to receiving her JD from Michigan State University College of Law, Ses obtained a dual degree in Womxn Studies and African American Studies from the University of Georgia. Ses has committed her life to fighting for social justice through public interest, movement lawyering, community organizing, and various other means. She has been a grassroots organizer and activist for the last 10 years. She aims to be an effective part of building lasting and impactful mutual aid networks and coalitions within Black Liberation, Immigrant Rights, Queer Rights, Civil Rights/Liberties, and other social justice organizations and movements on a nationwide scale. Ses has interned with MIRC, and used her time at MSU’s College of Law to actively promote diversity and inclusion by taking on positions on the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, and the Multicultural Executive Council. After graduating, Ses established the “Empowerment Scholarship” award at MSU College of Law, dedicated to helping 3L’s from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds cover the expenses related to the bar exam.