Avideh Moussavian

Avideh Moussavian served as a senior advisor to the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and then as the chief of the agency’s Office of Policy and Strategy. In these roles, she worked on a range of issues to further the agency’s humanitarian mission and expand lawful immigration pathways. Prior to joining USCIS, Moussavian was the director of federal advocacy for the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), where she led NILC’s overall strategy for congressional and administrative advocacy to expand rights and opportunities for immigrants with low income. She has held other key positions in the immigration field including: director of immigration policy and advocacy at the New York Immigration Coalition; senior staff attorney at Sanctuary for Families in New York City, directly representing immigrant survivors of gender-based violence; and visiting professional with the Office of Public Counsel for Defense at the International Criminal Court. She holds a Juris Doctorate from Boston University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University.