IMMIGRATION & HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERT
JESSICA SMITH BOBADILLA
IMMIGRATION & NATIONALITY LAW ATTORNEY, PROFESSOR, PODCASTER AND SPEAKER
ABOUT JESSICA
Having grown up in the culturally diverse city of Fresno in Central California and excelling in academics throughout her childhood, Jessica attended college at UC Berkeley graduating with High Honors and High Distinction. She then attended UC Hastings where she completed a concentration in international law. She achieved a dual degree in Law and International Affairs –– UC Hastings granted her law degree, and she received a Master’s by Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.
Jessica Smith Bobadilla has practiced immigration law since 2002, and her firm The Law Office of Jessica Smith Bobadilla, A PLC, was established in 2007. Jessica was the Director of the New American Legal Clinic at San Joaquin College of Law from 2013 to 2016 after serving as the Legal Director. While a professor at San Joaquin College of Law, she taught courses in both domestic and international-related legal topics at the law school such as Criminal Law, Immigration Law and Policy, Immigration Appellate Writing and Human Rights Law. In addition, Jessica was a Consulting Attorney with the Consulate of Mexico. Jessica departed from San Joaquin College of Law in 2016 to work with two Bay Area non-profits in delivering grant-based services to adults with children in asylum proceedings. From 2017 to 2018 she was a Senior Fellow in the immigration program of Community Legal Services of East Palo Alto (CLSEPA). She continues to oversee the operations of her firm and defend clients' immigration cases in court today.
​
Jessica has argued before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on several occasions. She has prevailed in several Ninth and Tenth Circuit appellate cases and secured attorney’s fees in some cases from the Department of Justice for her representation of clients in meritorious claims that were originally denied. In all of these cases her clients had received inadequate or ineffective assistance from a former attorney are were close to removal. Jessica secured new hearings for her clients, which alleviated the threat of deportation or removal.
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS/MEDIA
Print/Digital Media: The New York Times (2021) The Washington Post (2021); American Bar Association Student Lawyer Magazine (2021); Legal Zoom (2021); The Simple Dollar (2020); Forbes (2020); GV Wire (2019); San Francisco Chronicle (2020), Tribune Content Agency (2020); New Finance Magazine (2020); Law360 (2017); Mother Jones (2016); KVPR: NPR for Central CA (February 2015), KVPR: NPR for Central CA (May 2015), KVPR: NPR for Central CA (September 2014); The Los Angeles Times (2013); ABC7 New York (2012); ABC7 Chicago (2012); The Fresno Bee (various dates) the Sacramento Bee (2008); Facebook Blog SFNewsFeed.us, and other media sources in the United States, Mexico and Japan
Television: Guest on TV Azteca Live National Broadcast from Mexico City, January 2021; Guest speaker on various occasions for media programs at ABC and CBS affiliates in Central California rebroadcast in Chicago and New York; Guest on Univsion Fresno to Discuss Immigration Law and Policy (various dates); Guest as regular Spanish language segment on local Cable Program Aca Entre Nos in Fresno, California, 2013 to 2019
Live Events: Guest Speaker, ACLU Northern California Meeting (2013); Fresno City College Democratic Club (March 2019); Central Valley Progressive PAC Speaker on Immigration with Keynote Speaker Dolores Huerta (September 2019); UC Davis School of Law (2013); Fresno State Ethics Center (2013)
Podcasts: Guest on The Wake Up Call Podcast #FEMSQUIRE series, October 2020; Guest on Divorce Happy Hour Family Law Podcast with Host Cristina Previte (November 2020); Guest on Honestly Mindful with Host Marisela Robles Discussing the Trauma of The Child Separation Policy (December 2020);
Stream the new podcast now: