About the speakers:

AnnaMarie Bena is responsible for overall management, growth, and quality service delivery of USCRI’s programs for unaccompanied immigrant children, including residential care program, unaccompanied minors post-release and home study services; legal services program; and trafficking survivors support programs. Her portfolio includes USCRI’s policy and advocacy unit. AnnaMarie brings over 20 years of experience working on refugee and immigrant issues. Most recently, she served as the Director of Policy in the Office of Refugee Resettlement. She also has worked for UNHCR, the HHS Office of the General Counsel and CLINIC. AnnaMarie holds a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame and a B.S. in journalism from the University of Maryland. AnnaMarie served for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon.

José E. Múzquiz Loya  has a Bachelor's Degree in International Relations by Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. He is also a Specialist in Mexico-US Border Studies and holds a Master's degree in Cultural Studies by El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (The College of the Northern Border) in Tijuana.  He is also a Fulbright Grantee for Ph.D. Studies in the USA. He specializes in discourse analysis, migration, asylum, political rhetoric and the Mexico-US Border. He has worked as a General Coordinator for Habesha Project and Habesha Americas for DIMA AC. He currently is the Head of Office for USCRI México Legal Clinic. 

Maxime Pluvinet is Habesha Project’s Visual Content Creator. He has a Master’s in International Relations from Sciences Po Toulouse. Before working for Habesha Project, he interned at the Lebanese newspaper L’Orient Le Jour in 2017 and the Mexican newspaper Reforma in 2015.

Adriana Rivero is a Staff Attorney in the USCRI San Diego office. She primarily works with asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border, where she provides legal assistance and direct representation to individuals in the area. In collaboration with USCRI Mexico, she participates in monthly asylum orientations and “Know Your Rights" presentations in Tijuana. In addition, she handles a wide range of immigration petitions, including affirmative petitions for relief in the San Diego office. Adriana is licensed to practice in California, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. She is fluent in English and Spanish.