DIRECTOR
Born and raised in South Texas, Rochelle M. Garza is a staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas in the Brownsville office.
As a fluent Spanish speaker and advocate for immigrants, children, and victims of violence, she has expertise in the areas of immigration, family, and criminal law, including how these laws impact her community on the border with Mexico. She has been heavily involved in fighting for reproductive rights for unaccompanied immigrant minors in detention, including the Garza v. Hargan case brought by the ACLU on behalf of Rochelle as guardian ad litem to Jane Doe, and against the “zero tolerance” immigration policies of family separation and denial of access to the ports of entry for asylum-seeking families and individuals. In September 2018, she testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the nomination of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the Jane Doe case. Her current work involves federal challenges to hostile immigration policies, such as detention of medically vulnerable individuals in ICE facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Remain in Mexico program as applied in Tamaulipas Mexico, and expulsion of unaccompanied minors from the United States without access to the courts.
Rochelle is active in her local community, serving as Director for the Cameron County Bar Association, an organization of lawyers focused on fellowship, education, and public service, and is a Board Member of Jane’s Due Process, an organization that ensures legal representation for pregnant minors in Texas. Rochelle has also received state and national recognition for her work, including from the National Abortion Federation and State Bar of Texas. She is currently serving on the Laws Relating to Immigration and Nationality Committee for the State Bar of Texas.
Rochelle graduated from the University of Houston School of Law in 2013, and from Brown University with honors in ethnic studies in 2007.
Visit her office here.