Resist! A Rapid Response Training

OUR PANELISTS 

Caitlin Bellis (she/her/hers)

Director of Advocacy, National Immigration Project

Caitlin Bellis is the Director of Advocacy for the National Immigration Project, where she has been since 2021. Working closely with grassroots and movement groups in different parts of the country, she has provided critical support on the development of positive state and local policies that protect immigrants and defense against anti-immigrant policies. She has also led the development of a robust community defender training program that has reached over 10,000 people doing frontline work. Caitlin came to the National Immigration Project from the University of California Irvine Immigrant Rights Clinic where, as clinical fellow, she supervised students and represented the Clinic in Orange County organizing and policy settings. Caitlin previously worked at Public Counsel in Los Angeles, managing removal defense cases, running the Legal Orientation Program, and co-coordinating the California and the L.A. Coalitions for Universal Representation. Caitlin clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and is a graduate of Yale Law School and Reed College.

Sirine Shebaya (she/her/hers)

Executive Director, National Immigration Project

Sirine Shebaya is an immigrant rights advocate and movement lawyer who oversees the National Immigration Project’s work, focusing on combining community support, litigation, advocacy, and public campaign strategies to advance opportunities for immigrant communities. She has been at the National Immigration Project since 2019. She has litigated high-profile cases alongside and on behalf of people impacted by the Muslim Ban, family separation, discriminatory police practices, and immigration detention and enforcement. In partnership with community and movement groups, she has led and participated in federal, state, and local campaigns to achieve protections for immigrants and to fight back against racism in the immigration system. Sirine is a proud immigrant from Lebanon.

Gracie Willis (she/her/hers)

Rapid Response Coordinating Attorney, National Immigration Project

Gracie Willis is the Rapid Response Coordinating Attorney for the National Immigration Project. She graduated from Loyola University Chicago and University of Michigan Law School, and has worked on detained representation projects in detention centers from Dilley, Texas, to Lumpkin, Georgia. As a direct services attorney and federal litigator, she has primarily focused on expedited removal representation, habeas petitions for prolonged and indefinite detention, challenges to restrictive asylum policies and court biases, amplifying inhumane detention conditions, and fighting for clients’ release from detention. Her advocacy centers on building systems and networks of support, leveraging existing resources, and building group proficiencies. In her current role, she is excited to collaborate with colleagues across the country to make sure nobody is walking alone. She lives in Texas with her partner and their little brown cattle dog.