Cristina Velez is the Supervising Attorney of the Immigration practice at HIV Law Project, where she represents HIV positive immigrants seeking asylum, permanent residence, VAWA/U visas, naturalization, and relief from removal. She is a graduate of Oberlin College and Cornell Law School. Following law school, she clerked for the Honorable Denny Chin, then of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Prior to joining HIV Law Project, Ms. Velez worked for a highly respected private practice devoted to immigration law. Ms. Velez co-authored the chapter HIV/AIDS Issues In Immigration Proceedings in the second edition of the HIV/AIDS Benchbook, published by the American Bar Association in September 2012, which was reprinted in Benders Immigration Bulletin. Ms. Velez is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild. She received the 2013 Cornell Law School Alumni Exemplary Public Service Award.