About Us

Marla Isela Samora represents clients in their immigration cases before U .S. Citizenship & Immigration Services, the immigration court, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and in federal district and circuit courts.

Her practice focuses on minimizing the immigration consequences of criminal convictions. She has experience in arguing that clients’ criminal convictions do not trigger adverse immigration consequences, as well as defending clients who are currently in removal proceeding as a result of certain convictions.

Marla also has experience in litigating asylum claims, waivers, and adjustments of status before the immigration court. She also has experience representing clients in complex affirmative applications, such as naturalization, U/T/S/VAWA, and adjustment of status, among others. 

Prior to opening her own practice, Marla worked at Van Der Hout LLP, one of the nation's leading immigration law firms, as an immigration associate where she worked on complex removal cases and affirmative applications. Prior to joining Van Der Hout LLP, Marla previously split her time between Nationalities Service Center (NSC) and the Defenders Association of Philadelphia-Immigration Unit where she focused on the immigration consequences of criminal charges and convictions. Marla also assisted clients at NSC who were facing removal in immigration court, applying for affirmative relief, naturalization, and with family-based immigration applications.

During her graduate program at Temple University-Beasley School of Law, Marla worked at Friends of Farmworkers, protecting and promoting the rights of agriculture workers in Pennsylvania. Marla was also a legal intern at Nationalities Service Center where she worked with low-income and indigent clients seeking immigration advocacy.

Marla attended Columbia University where she earned her Bachelors in Political Science and Psychology.

Marla is a Central Valley native, born and raised in Porterville, California. She is fluent in Spanish.