Ellen Messali is currently employed by a non-profit organization.  She is an immigration staff attorney at New Haven Legal Assistance Association and began working there in August, 2016. She represents detained immigrants both in bond and removal hearings, and represents non-detained individuals in removal proceedings as well, largely focusing on humanitarian relief like asylum, U Visas, and Petitions under the Violence Against Women Act. Prior to coming to NHLAA, Ellen worked as the staff attorney for the Survivor Services Program at the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants (formerly the International Institute of Connecticut), another non-profit organization, for nearly four years. There, she represented torture survivors in their applications for asylum, and other humanitarian relief.  Before beginning her work at CIRI, Ms. Messali served as a civil clerk at Waterbury Superior Court for the Honorable Wilson Trombley, and as a family clerk at Milford Superior Court for the Honorable Robert Malone.  She holds a BS in Legal Studies and Political Science from Roger Williams University (2007 summa cum laude), and a Juris Doctor and Human Rights Certificate from University of Connecticut School of Law. Ellen is an avid tap dancer, a runner, and a newlywed as of Sept. 2021.