C. Mario Russell is the Executive Director at the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS). Mr. Russell is an attorney and professor with over 25 years of experience in migration policy and law. He has lectured and presented extensively and has served on various state, city, and federal immigration policy and practice committees.  Before joining CMS, Mr. Russell was Director of the Immigrant and Refugee Services Division of Catholic Charities in New York, where he oversaw legal, resettlement, asylum, unaccompanied minors, and day laborer services. He conducted litigation in the federal district and appeals courts and managed the asylum defense clinic at St. John’s University School of Law, where he teaches immigration and comparative refugee law both in the United States and in Europe. 

Mr. Russell also previously worked as Regional Director for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), and consulted with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on asylum protection in Eastern Europe. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law and Haverford College (BA, Philosophy), and served as Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow at Harvard University Law School. 

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