Andres A. Cerritos

Andres' interest in immigration law comes from his personal experience. He was born in El Salvador during the Salvadoran civil war. The war threatened his family's lives, separated them for two years, and forced them into refuge. Andres and his family later reunited in the United States under the blanket of asylum. These events engendered Andres' interest in immigration law, and provided the determination for opening a law practice dedicated to immigration law.

Andres is currently an attorney authorized and registered to practice law before the U.S. Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). EOIR conducts immigration court proceedings at various courts throughout the United States. Andres primarily represents clients before the Chicago Immigration Court. There, he represents individuals and families seeking asylum, cancellation of removal, withholding of removal, protection under the Convention Against Torture, legal permanent residence, temporary protected status, and any other applicable relief under federal immigration law.

Andres also practices law before the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Board of Immigration Appeals. Here, Andres represents applicants abroad as they go through consular processing at U.S. Consulates to gain legal entry into the United States. He also represents applicants in the United States applying for legal permanent residence, waivers of inadmissibility, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, advance parole, naturalization, U nonimmigrant visas, parole in place for military families, and employment authorization documents.

Andres is an active member in good standing of the American Immigration Lawyer's Association (AILA), the Illinois State Bar Association, the Wisconsin State Bar Association, and the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois (HLAI). He is admitted to practice law in the State of Illinois, State of Wisconsin, and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Andres Cerritos received his Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School, where he was part of the law school's first Immigration Justice Clinic that focused on providing free immigration legal services to individuals and families in Madison, WI. Andres received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside where he graduated cum laude and attended on an athletic scholarship to compete on the University's Men's Soccer Team.

Previously, Andres worked at the Legal Assistance Foundation in Chicago, IL (now Legal Aid Chicago). He was awarded an Equal Justice America Fellowship. He was also a Godfrey & Kahn Fellow during law school where he worked, in part, on employment based visa issues (E-2, EB-5) for individuals making substantial investments in the United States. Prior to attending law school, Andres was the Director of the Illinois Small Business Development Center at the Latin American Chamber of Commerce in Chicago, Illinois.