myPadilla
myPadilla provides free legal support to appointed attorneys and public defenders representing non-US citizens in Texas. We offer advice that enables criminal defense attorneys to accurately advise their clients on the immigration consequences of a criminal offense.
Connecting criminal defense attorneys with immigration expertise to meet Padilla obligations and better serve clients
A project of the Capital Area Private Defender Service.
myPadilla Staff
Nora Picasso-Uvalle
myPadilla Program Director
Nora Picasso-Uvalle is a licensed attorney in Texas and Mexico. She holds an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School, a master’s degree in legal theory from Los Andes University in Colombia, and a Bachelor of Law degree from Facultad Libre de Derecho de Monterrey, Mexico. Nora has worked at various institutions in Mexico and Colombia. She worked at the Federal Electoral Court in Mexico and at PARCES, a non-profit organization in Colombia, where she advocated on behalf of different communities, including people affected by the carceral system. Nora has also worked as a researcher and a lecturer at Los Andes University.
Before joining Capital Area Private Defender Service/myPadilla (her current organization), Nora worked at Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid (TRLA), providing legal services to asylum-seeking families detained in Dilley, Texas.
Yvette Changuin
myPadilla Operation Lone Star Staff Attorney
Yvette received her J.D. from St. Mary’s University School of Law and her B.A. from St. Mary’s University.
Prior to this position, she was a Senior Staff Attorney in the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services’ (RAICES) Litigation Unit. While at RAICES, Yvette worked on several habeas cases and damages claims against the GEO Group, a for-profit detention company contracted by ICE. While working at RAICES, Yvette helped obtained a settlement in National Bail Fund Network et al. v. Immigration and Customs Enforcement et al, a FOIA suit to make ICE post its bond procedures publicly. Previously, Yvette was a Supervising Attorney with RAICES’ Children’s Program, representing unaccompanied children in need of protection.