Wafa Abdin has been named the new executive director of the Houston Volunteer Lawyers. “I am very excited about the opportunity to work with pro bono volunteers and the HVL team to provide to low-income individuals free civil legal aid that helps stabilize families, maintain housing, and even improve children’s health,” said Abdin, who served as vice president for Immigration and Refugee Services at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and led the Cabrini Center for Immigrant Legal Assistance.
In her more than 16 years of pro bono legal service, Abdin has represented detained adults and juveniles, asylum seekers, and victims of human trafficking and other crimes before the Department of Homeland Security, the Immigration Court, and the Board of Immigration.
Abdin is a former president of the Arab American Cultural Center and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance. In 2010, she received a J. Chrys Dougherty Legal Services Award from the State Bar of Texas for her work.
“We are very fortunate to have Wafa joining our Houston Volunteer Lawyers in this leadership role,” Houston Bar Association President Alistair B. Dawson said. “The depth of her experience with nonprofit organizations and her commitment to pro bono legal services will be a great asset as we move forward in providing pro bono legal representation to those in need in Houston and surrounding areas.”