Katie Shepherd

Kathryn “Katie” Shepherd is the National Advocacy Counsel for the Immigration Justice Campaign at the American Immigration Council, where she focuses on legal advocacy and policy related to the asylum-seeking women and children detained in family detention centers around the country. Before joining the Council in August 2016, Katie was the Managing Attorney of the CARA Pro Bono Project in Dilley, Texas, where she managed a team of lawyers, advocates, and volunteers which provides legal services to asylum-seeking women and children detained in Dilley, Texas. For ten years, Katie has worked to advance and protect the rights of noncitizens seeking humanitarian relief in the United States. Before her work with CARA, she ran a private practice in Houston, Texas where she focused exclusively on asylum cases. Katie holds a J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law and her B.A. in History with Special Honors from the University of Texas at Austin. She is licensed to practice law in Texas and New York and speaks conversational Spanish.

Katie Shepherd

Publications

New Data Shows the Landscape of Community Support Services to Replace Immigration Detention

  • March 2, 2021

The U.S. government has long relied on a punitive and outdated detention system to keep…

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‘Death to Asylum’ Rule Halted in the Last Days of the Trump Administration

A federal judge in California blocked a sweeping "death to asylum” rule on January 8,…

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Making the Case for Ending Immigration Detention

Immigration detention was dangerous before President Trump took office four years ago. His policies—coupled with…

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