Annie Chen

Annie Chen directs Vera’s Advancing Universal Representation initiative, which has the goal of establishing a federal right to representation for all immigrants facing deportation. Annie has worked nationally to advance universal representation for immigrants since joining Vera in 2013, including through launching the Safety and Fairness for Everyone (SAFE) Network—a unique collaboration amongst local governments, immigration legal service providers, and advocates working together to build a movement for universal representation in 2017 and the Fairness to Freedom Campaign, a federal campaign for universal representation, in partnership with the National Partnership for New Americans, in 2022.  

She is an advocate, strategist, and policy expert with over 10 years’ experience advancing change at the intersection of immigrants’ rights, racial justice, and criminal legal system reform. She has experience partnering with public, private, and movement stakeholders and is an organizational change leader with experience in advocacy campaigns and managing  national programs providing legal services to immigrants facing deportation.

Previously, Annie was a practicing attorney in private practice, where she dedicated herself to the pro bono representation of immigrants. She also worked at the Legal Aid Society’s Immigration Law Unit, where she represented immigrants in detention facing deportation. Before law school, Annie worked at the Brennan Center for Justice. She is a Coro Immigrant Civic Leadership Program alum.