Ryan Brunsink  is a managing attorney for the Removal Defense Programs. He joined PIRC in March of 2015, after serving as a judicial fellow in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia where he regularly drafted legal opinions. Ryan graduated, cum laude, from Pepperdine University School of Law in May of 2014. At Pepperdine, Ryan successfully represented vulnerable clients with fear-based claims through Pepperdine’s Asylum and Refugee Clinic. He worked as a summer law clerk at the Law Offices of Carl Shusterman, a prominent immigration firm in Los Angeles, and provided pro bono legal aid to indigent clients through Christian Legal Aid of Los Angeles during his time in law school. Ryan obtained a BA in Economics and Religious Studies at the University of Virginia in 2008, and remains an avid Wahoo fan. Ryan is proficient in Spanish.

Ben Hooper  joined the Removal Defense Programs at PIRC in January 2018.  As a legal aid attorney and manager since 1999, Ben’s advocacy work has included federally subsidized housing, mortgage foreclosure, domestic violence and immigration.  Immediately prior to joining PIRC, Ben worked at the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence where he coordinated the Civil Legal Representation Initiative, providing legal service to victims of domestic violence in twenty-two counties across Pennsylvania.  Ben earned his J.D. degree from Northeastern University, and a B.A. in Political Science at Binghamton University.

Ben Hooper

Fernanda Hernandez  has worked with the Removal Defense team since joining PIRC in 2016. She graduated HACC with a degree in Behavioral and Social Sciences, with a concentration on Paralegal Studies in 2016, and earned her Bachelor degree in Applied Science in Technical Leadership from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania in 2019.  Fernanda is fluent in Spanish, and received her DOJ accreditation in early 2018.

After getting her partial accreditation, she started providing legal orientation classes to detained immigrants at York County Prison and Berks County Residential Center, continuing to do so today at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center & Clinton County Correctional Facility. Now with full Department of Justice Accreditation, Fernanda hopes to start working towards not providing education to immigrants in detention but to also help them fight for their freedom, representing them in front of an immigration court.

At PIRC, Ms. Hernandez provides remote and in-person classes for immigrants in detention to inform them of their rights and what to  to expect in immigration court. She also manages the Legal Orientation Program (LOP), from scheduling in-person services all the way to stakeholders’ meetings such as ICE, EOIR, and detention facility staff. Fernanda would love to have more capacity or partner with other organizations to refer detained immigrants who are PA residents and to collaborate on a bond project – currently the need for detained representation and bond help far outweighs the capacity among organizations throughout the state.

Fernanda

Legal Orientation Program Coordinator/ DOJ Accredited Representative

PA Immigrant Family Unity Project Coordinator

Yomayra Burgos started with PIRC in 2022 as the PA Immigrant Family Unity Project (PAIFUP) coordinator.  Born and raised in Lancaster, PA Ms. Burgos is Puerto Rican/Peruvian, and fluent in Spanish. She earned her bachelor’s in 2018 from Millersville University with a degree in Geography and Latino Studies. In 2018 she also conducted community outreach through her internship with the Jess King for Congress campaign. For years Ms. Burgos mentored young women pursuing their higher educational goals, a part of the Miss Hispanidad Scholarship Program (Latin American Alliance). Yomayra Burgos is committed to serving the immigrant community.

Melissa Vega  joined the Removal Defense Programs at PIRC in April 2019, and became Medical-Legal Partnership Attorney & Community Response Attorney in September 2023. After graduating with honors from Widener University Commonwealth Law School, Melissa clerked for three years for The Honorable Mary Hannah Leavitt of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania (one of PA’s two intermediate appellate courts over state administrative agency law, which also has trial court jurisdiction over certain cases where the state is a party). Upon completing her clerkship, Melissa set up her practice as a sole practitioner, representing clients in family-based petitions, naturalization, TPS/DACA, non-immigrant visa applications and removal defense for the next nine years. Immediately prior to joining PIRC, she practiced immigration & naturalization law in the
Houston, Texas, area. Melissa is fluent in Spanish.

Sarah Martin-Torres is the State Liaison for the Immigrant Survivors Project at the Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center. She holds a master’s degree in social work from Temple University and has been providing immigration legal services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking for nearly a decade as a Department of Justice Accredited Representative. Ms. Martin-Torres also coordinates the Immigrant Survivors Advocate Network (ISAN) and is fluent in Spanish.

Rosa Perez-Lupian graduated from Delone Catholic High School in 1992 and attended DeVry University.  She is the daughter of Mexican immigrant parents.   In 2005, she began her 12 year career as Bilingual Client Advocate and Community Education Coordinator at YWCA Hanover Safe Home, where she established a robust program of community outreach, speaking to thousands of students as well as adult groups about healthy relationships and intimate partner violence.  While developing her skills as an advocate, Mr. Perez-Lupian found that assisting immigrant victims of crime brought deep satisfaction.  Through this work, she formed a strong bond with the Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center, where she began to work in November 2017.

Jazmin H. Hernandez  joined PIRC in August 2019 as a Citizenship Coordinator. Jazmin is the daughter of Mexican parents who brought her to the U.S. in 2008 when she was 11 years old. She earned her Associate in Applied Science in Paralegal Studies in June 2017. Jazmin continued her education at Central Penn College and graduated in March 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies. She worked as a paralegal for a private law firm assisting in family petitions, asylum, and removal proceedings. She is passionate about helping the immigrant community as she is an immigrant herself and knows the obstacles and challenges they face. Jazmin is fluent in Spanish.