Ana Maria Villegas, Attorney
Ana Maria Villegas, a native to the Rio Grande Valley, graduated from Texas A&M University in 2001 with a Bachelors of Science and then received her Master of Business of Administration from the University of Texas at Pan Am in 2003. After working in the business field, she decided to focus on international human and civil rights issues. She attended the University of Houston and obtained a Master of Social Work in 2006. There she was the recipient of the Center of Mexican American Studies Fellowship Award. During her Social Work graduate studies, Ms. Villegas interned at Catholic Charities assisting in their Refugee Resettlement Department. She also spent three months at the University of Costa Rica interning at the Centro de Investigación en Estudios de la Mujer (Center of Investigation in Women Studies), San José, Costa Rica under the guidance of Dra. Laura Guzman. There Ms. Villegas conducted research and data collection on projects regarding women’s rights, violence against women, and women’s economic issues. She also participated in the founding of the first women’s political party in Costa Rica history, the Partido Nueva Liga Feminista.
In 2006, she attended the American University Washington College of Law’s Academy of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Summer Program, before starting law school at DePaul University College of Law. In law school, Ms. Villegas focused her studies in international law, international human rights law and immigration and refugee law. Ms. Villegas worked under the guidance of the Distinguished Professor of law emeritus Dr. M. Cherif Bassiouni in researching international human trafficking. She also participated in the Immigration and Asylum Law Clinic at DePaul.
Ms. Villegas is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and Texas Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Ms. Villegas is also an active member of the Hidalgo County Bar Association, Hidalgo County Women’s Bar Association and the Hidalgo County Young Lawyers’ Association.
Ms. Villegas is a member of the bar for the State of Texas and the State of Illinois. She is also a Licensed Master of Social Work in the State of Texas. She has also been trained in trial advocacy and working with survivors of domestic violence and survivors of torture.