Founding attorney, Tanishka V. Cruz, Esq. grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey. She attended college at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism, Public Relations, and Advertising. Tanishka earned her Juris Doctor from Drexel University, Thomas R. Kline School of Law in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

As the daughter of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Tanishka has dedicated her legal career to the practice of immigration law. She was admitted to the Virginia State Bar in 2014 and in 2015 she joined the Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC) as a staff attorney under the Immigrant Advocacy Program. At LAJC, Tanishka focused primarily on the management of the Virginia Special Immigrant Juvenile Project, an award-winning collaboration between LAJC and pro bono attorneys across the state. The project has saved over 100 children from likely deportation. In 2016, she won a LASSY award from the Virginia Poverty Law Center for greatest achievement in immigration law.

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

• American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)
• Charlottesville Albemarle Bar Association (CABA)