Lauren L. Armstrong Associate Attorney

Lauren Armstrong joined Noble & Vrapi in December 2015 to establish the firm’s newest office in Las Cruces, NM. Ms. Armstrong transitioned into private practice after approximately six years in the non-profit sector. Ms. Armstrong handles a wide variety of immigration and deportation defense cases, and she has particular expertise regarding victim advocacy and children’s cases. From 2012 to 2015, Ms. Armstrong worked for Catholic Charities of Southern New Mexico, where she served as an Immigration Staff Attorney and later as the Managing Attorney of the Legal Services Program. Ms. Armstrong oversaw all immigration practice areas (including naturalization, DACA, and family-based cases) and led the agency's programs for undocumented children (SIJS) and crime victims (VAWA, U Visa). Previously, Ms. Armstrong worked as a Staff Attorney with the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition in Washington, DC, where she provided training, pro se assistance, and direct representation to detained immigrants in removal proceedings. Ms. Armstrong mentored pro bono attorneys on detained cases during that time and handled her own caseload involving LPR cancellation of removal and T visas. From 2010 to 2011, Ms. Armstrong worked as a Program Specialist with Polaris Project’s National Human Trafficking Resource Center in Washington, DC. While there, Ms. Armstrong provided training, technical assistance, and direct representation on human trafficking cases. Ms. Armstrong received her J.D. (Cum Laude) and M.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of New Mexico in 2009 and received her B.S. (High Honors) from the University of Illinois in 2002. Accordingly, she is licensed to practice law in New Mexico, and she was previously admitted to the Illinois bar. While in law school, Ms. Armstrong clerked for the Chicago Immigration Court, where she helped draft opinions for the Immigration Judge presiding over detained cases and handled an opinion on remand from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Ms. Armstrong also conducted field research on indigenous land rights in Panama and has published articles in the University of New Mexico Tribal Law Journal and Florida A & M University Law Review.