Rivas & Associates

Immigration scope and national reach

The firm has offices in Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Fort Smith, Arkansas. It states that it provides immigration representation nationwide. Its service list covers family petitions, humanitarian relief, removal defense, citizenship matters and immigration appeals.

The attorney referral page reports more than 6,000 cases nationwide and more than 15 years of immigration law experience. That page describes a team of eight attorneys and more than 100 support staff. These figures are the firm's own account of its case volume and staffing.

Agency, court and consular proceedings

Several government bodies may take part in an immigration matter. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reviews many petitions, applications and requests for benefits. U.S. consulates handle visa processing for applicants who complete their cases outside the country.

Immigration judges hear removal cases and some asylum claims. The Board of Immigration Appeals reviews certain decisions made by immigration judges. Federal courts may hear immigration related claims, such as the habeas corpus matters listed by Rivas & Associates.

Family immigration and status options

Family based petitions form one part of the firm's work. These matters generally require proof of a qualifying relationship, the petitioner's immigration status and the applicant's eligibility. USCIS may seek added records when the original filing leaves a factual or legal issue unresolved.

Visa availability and the applicant's location can shape the next stage of a family case. Some applicants complete adjustment proceedings with USCIS inside the United States. Others use consular processing through a U.S. consulate abroad, which the firm lists among its services.

Waivers, citizenship and DACA

Rivas & Associates handles immigration waivers. A waiver request usually asks the government to excuse a stated ground of inadmissibility under a specific provision of immigration law. The filing may require records about family relationships, past events and the effect that denial would have on qualifying relatives.

The firm lists naturalization and citizenship matters as separate services. Naturalization cases commonly involve lawful permanent residence, physical presence, background questions and testing requirements. Citizenship claims may depend on a person's birth, parents, prior residence or family history.

DACA appears on the service list as well. A DACA filing requires evidence tied to the program's eligibility rules and the applicant's personal history. Deadlines, supporting documents and government policy can affect how a person approaches this type of request.

Humanitarian forms of relief

The firm handles VAWA matters, U visas and T visas. Each category has its own legal test and evidence requirements. These cases often involve sensitive personal records, statements and documents from agencies or other third parties.

VAWA can allow an eligible person to seek immigration relief through a self petition. U visa cases concern certain crime victims who meet statutory requirements, while T visa cases concern human trafficking victims. The government examines each request under the rules for that particular category.

Asylum, removal defense and appeals

Asylum and deportation defense are named areas of the firm's immigration work. Elissa Stiles handles asylum cases, deportation defense and detained representation. Her profile also identifies appeals and federal immigration based litigation as parts of her work.

How protection claims proceed

An asylum claim generally requires a personal account, identity records and evidence connected to the claimed fear of persecution. An asylum officer may hear an affirmative case. An immigration judge may decide asylum when the claim arises during removal proceedings.

Timing can carry legal consequences in asylum matters. The decision maker may examine the filing date, the applicant's history and any claimed exception to a filing rule. Testimony and written evidence must address the legal grounds for protection.

Court proceedings and detention

A removal case begins when the government files charging allegations in immigration court. The judge addresses the charges, possible relief and procedural deadlines. If the case reaches an individual hearing, the parties present testimony, records and legal arguments.

Detained representation can involve both the removal case and questions about custody. Immigration authorities may detain a person while proceedings continue. A lawyer may need to address hearing schedules, access to records and any available request for release.

Administrative and federal review

The firm's listed services include BIA appeals. The Board reviews the immigration court record, written arguments and claimed legal or factual errors. Appeal deadlines can be short, so the notice and supporting brief require careful timing.

Habeas corpus matters appear on the firm's service list. In immigration cases, a habeas petition can ask a federal court to review the legality of detention. Federal immigration litigation can also raise statutory or constitutional questions that differ from the issues before an immigration judge.

How the attorney team is built

Lorena Rivas is the firm's CEO and Senior Attorney. She comes from Mutual, Oklahoma, and is the daughter of two Mexican nationals. Her biography connects her leadership role with her personal ties to immigrant families.

Supervising attorneys

Elissa Stiles is the Supervising Attorney in Tulsa. Her stated caseload spans asylum, removal defense, detained cases, appeals and federal litigation. That combination places agency, court and appellate work within her listed role.

Braxton Coil is the Production Supervising Attorney. She grew up in Edmond, Oklahoma, and has worked in both criminal defense and immigration law. Her biography also records that she played college softball at Missouri State University.

Grisel Wilson is the Consult Supervising Attorney. She works in criminal and immigration law. Before joining this field of work, she represented people charged with misdemeanors and felonies as a public defender in Eastern Kentucky.

Consultation and removal defense experience

Brenda Cristela Lozano is identified as an immigration attorney. She grew up in Oklahoma City as the daughter of Mexican immigrant parents and gained admission to practice law in October 2024. Since that admission, she has practiced immigration removal defense.

Lozano previously led Dream Action Oklahoma as its executive director. Her work there involved advocacy and education with immigrant and queer youth. This background adds nonprofit and community experience to her attorney biography.

Maria Stallings is a Consultation Attorney. She began her legal career in 2022 as a criminal defense attorney near Houston, then represented people in immigration court and before USCIS. She belongs to the Texas State Bar Association and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Other attorneys named by the firm

The attorney roster also names Brianna Walling, Sueci Gimenez and Gianna Della Sera. Erin Hoff, Badria Mryyan and Alvaro Abrego-Salazar appear there as attorneys as well. Their names expand the roster beyond the lawyers whose roles and backgrounds receive fuller descriptions.

Referral work and community education

In my opinion, the firm's clearest point of distinction is its stated ability to handle agency filings, removal proceedings, administrative appeals and federal immigration litigation. The named services cover several forums that can arise during one person's immigration history. The attorney profiles identify lawyers with experience in criminal defense, detained cases and consultation work.

Rivas & Associates offers an attorney referral program. A referral arrangement can help another lawyer direct an immigration issue to counsel who handles the relevant type of proceeding. The firm's separate referral page states its case volume, years of experience and team size.

Colegio de Sueños

Lorena Rivas opened Colegio de Sueños as an education program connected with the firm's community work. Immigration and citizenship processes often require people to understand forms, interviews and government instructions. Colegio de Sueños offers English as a Second Language and citizenship courses.

Additional attorney roster detail

Bethany Dohman is also among the attorneys named by Rivas & Associates.

Case assessment and production workflow

The firm's job titles draw a distinction between consultation and production work. In a typical immigration matter, the consultation stage centers on the client's objective and current procedural position. Counsel can identify the applicable process and immediate deadlines. A focused review of the client's history then helps determine which evidence bears on eligibility. After that assessment, production work generally covers drafting filings and organizing supporting documents. Attorney supervision across those stages can help keep the legal theory consistent with the documents submitted.

This structure is relevant because an immigration matter can shift from a request for benefits to a defensive posture. A person in removal proceedings may also have a family-based or humanitarian route to lawful status. Counsel generally compares the legal requirements for each route before selecting the next procedural step. One option may proceed through USCIS, while another may require action in immigration court. The sequence can affect where counsel presents the request and which deadlines control.

Criminal case history in immigration representation

Criminal and immigration law can intersect when a person has a past charge or conviction. In a removal case, counsel may need to examine the criminal statute alongside the final court disposition. The analysis can affect whether the government alleges removability and whether the person may seek a form of relief. The firm's criminal defense experience has practical relevance to that work because criminal court terminology does not always carry the same meaning under federal immigration law.

Timing also matters when criminal proceedings and an immigration case overlap. Immigration counsel may review charging papers and plea documents before advising on possible immigration consequences. If the criminal matter has concluded, certified court documents can help establish what the court decided. This type of document review may also arise in citizenship matters, where USCIS examines an applicant's history under the requirements for naturalization.

Planning relief within removal proceedings

Removal defense can require counsel to assess more than the government's allegations. The firm's work in family immigration and humanitarian relief creates several possible points of analysis for a person already before an immigration judge. Counsel may examine whether a pending petition affects the court case or whether the person's circumstances fit a protection-based category. Each route follows its own standard, so the attorney must connect the facts to the specific relief requested.

If the immigration judge issues an unfavorable decision, the firm's BIA and federal litigation work provides another procedural layer. Effective review often depends on arguments raised earlier and documents presented at the proper stage. That makes case preparation important from the first court hearing through any later appeal.