Andres Santiago

Associate Managing Attorney | SIJ Children’s Team

Andrés is an Associate Managing Attorney at NMILC where he supports the Children’s Team. Andrés is the son of Puerto Rican parents and a first-generation attorney. He earned his JD Magna Cum Laude from St. Thomas University College of Law in 2016. While in law school, Andrés served on the Executive Board of the St. Thomas Law Review and as the Site Coordinator for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. Andrés was raised in Philadelphia, PA where he earned his BA in Economics and Spanish Magna Cum Laude from Temple University. He is admitted to practice law in Florida and New Mexico.

Andrés began his career in immigration law while living in Miami, FL. He has extensive experience in private practice where he focused on deportation defense, humanitarian visas, employment-based immigration, and complex family immigration cases. Andrés relocated to the New Mexico in 2017 and continued to be an advocate for immigrant families. In 2020, Andrés joined the Children, Youth, and Families Department (CYFD) as an Immigrant Rights Attorney where he supervised CYFD’s Immigration Unit focusing on the intersection of immigration with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. In his current role, Andrés represents children and youth throughout New Mexico specializing in immigration relief and deportation defense. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the New Mexico Bar’s Immigration Law Section. Andrés does this work to empower and amplify the voices of the immigrant community.