Julissa Peña is the proud daughter of parents born in Mexico who both crossed the border into the United States. She is the Executive Director of the Santa Barbara County Immigrant Legal Defense Center (ILDC) and a Doctoral Candidate in the Spanish and Portuguese Department. Before joining the ILDC in 2019, Julissa worked closely with several immigrant-serving nonprofits that provided immigration legal services and advocacy: Border Angels, the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights, and Kids in Need of Defense (KIND). Julissa has over six years of immigration legal service experience. She is a Department of Justice accredited representative authorized to represent immigrant clients before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency.