Helen Tarokic Law PLLC, specializing in immigration and nationalization law, has welcomed senior associate attorney Heather Ziemba.

Ziemba's addition to the firm adds a second bilingual N.C. Board Certified Immigration Law Specialist on-site, a first in the firm's history, according to a press release.

From T Visas to U Visas, Ziemba will specialize in issues relating to juveniles, including kids who have been abandoned, neglected or are seeking asylum.

“I’ll be working on the humanitarian and family-based side,” Ziemba said in the release.

Ziemba earned her law degree from Vanderbilt Law and pursued nonprofit work along the border in Nogales, Mexico, and served as staff attorney for Legal Services of Southern Piedmont, a nonprofit in Charlotte.

At Southern Piedmont, she founded the Immigrant Justice Program, applying her heightened expertise and Spanish-speaking skills to expand immigrant services.

“Initially, we served victims of domestic violence and abuse, but I soon transitioned into humanitarian immigration law, including asylum, victims of human trafficking and sexual assault," Ziemba said of her role in that position.

Following 10 years with Legal Services, Ziemba dipped into private practice -- from a large immigration firm to her own personal practice -- before resuming work with Legal Services and the Immigrant Justice Program, according to the release.

“I think right now, the changes in priorities in immigration enforcement are the biggest issues,” Ziemba said in the release. “There’s been a shift in our immigration system from one that promoted keeping families together and protecting victims of crime and persecution in both countries, to a system of enforcement first -- without regard to the consequences of those actions, and who is being affected by those decisions.”

Helen Tarokic Law has been working to assist the immigrant community since 2011.  As a multilingual firm, fluent in Spanish, Croatian, Romanian, French and Gujarati, Tarokic and her staff work with immigrants from many countries, with a focus on employment-based naturalization and removal defense immigration cases.