Ms. Ana Isabel Vallejo is a co-director of VIDA Legal Assistance, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the rights of immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, trafficking in persons and other violent crimes.  From 2011 to 2013, she was the Project Coordinator for the Human Trafficking Academy of the Graduate Program in Intercultural Human Rights at St. Thomas University School of Law.  Prior to her joining St. Thomas University and VIDA, she supervised a team of four attorneys and three paralegals, while representing low-income immigrant women and children victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, rape, incest, and other gender related violent crimes.

For more than 10 years, Ms. Vallejo has dedicated her practice to representing survivors of human trafficking (modern day slavery).  She has worked tirelessly in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Section Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, The Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Department of Homeland Security to insure that victims of trafficking have access to justice.  Recently, Ms. Vallejo appeared as a witness before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission where she testified on issues related to trafficking in persons in the context of the agricultural industry in Florida.  Ms. Vallejo has also participated as faculty at international trainings and conferences geared towards law enforcement and government officials sponsored by the Department of Justice, Criminal Division Office of Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) in Panama, El Salvador and Mexico. Additionally, she has presented at international conferences on the topic of access to justice for survivors of trafficking in persons in Thailand, Spain and Puerto Rico.

Prior to working with survivors of trafficking in persons, Ms. Vallejo represented hundreds of victims of human rights violations seeking protection in the United States.  In the course of her duties, she appeared before the Department of Homeland Security’s Bureaus of Citizenship and Immigration Services and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Service), the Executive Office for Immigration Review and the Board of Immigration Appeals.  Additionally, Ms. Vallejo’s experience includes the research and writing of three amicus curiae briefs — two for the European Court of Human Rights and one for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.  She has researched and written in the area of Women’s Human Rights, specifically on the issues of female genital mutilation, forced prostitution and trafficking of women for commercial sexual exploitation.  She received a B.A. in Political Science and a B.A. in International Affairs from Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; a law degree from St. Thomas University School of Law, Miami, Florida; and a Master of Laws degree in Intercultural Human Rights Law from St. Thomas University School of Law, Miami, Florida, where she graduated cum laude.