Leon Fresco Recognized as Immigration Trailblazer by National Law Journal

WASHINGTON (August 7, 2018) – Holland & Knight Partner Leon Fresco has been named an Immigration Trailblazer by the National Law Journal. Mr. Fresco is among a selected group of attorneys recognized by the publication as outstanding practitioners who have “moved the needle” in facilitating the ever-changing immigration policies and embody the spirit that will shepherd and shape modern law firms in immigration going into 2019 and beyond. He is profiled in a special “Immigration Trailblazers” supplement, which was published in the August issue.

Mr. Fresco focuses his practice on providing global immigration representation to businesses and individuals. He also represents clients in administrative law and government relations matters and has extensive appellate, commercial litigation and legislation experience. He is active on the pro bono front as well, handling pro bono immigration cases across the United States.  

Prior to joining Holland & Knight in early 2017, Mr. Fresco was deputy assistant attorney general for the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and head of the Office of Immigration Litigation, where he oversaw all civil immigration litigation on behalf of the U.S. government in the federal courts, leading a team of more than 300 attorneys. Previously, he served as the staff director for the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security. He was the principal advisor to Sen. Charles Schumer, chairman of the subcommittee, on all aspects of immigration law and policy and was the principal drafter of S.744, the Senate comprehensive immigration reform bill of 2013.

The National Law Journal reports that Mr. Fresco currently is focused on securing green card wait-time equality. “Right now, different countries have different lines,” he points out.  Mr. Fresco is the key legal counsel and strategist on the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, a bipartisan bill with 320 co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives which would eliminate per-country caps for employment-based immigrants. He is confident that Congress will pass this legislation, noting “the era of being able to exploit workers will be over. People realize it makes no sense to have so many people stuck on inflexible H-1B visas.”