Cinthia Nieves

Country Expert on the Northern Triangle and Central America — Immigration, Asylum & Human Rights

Summary
Law graduate (Legal and Social Sciences, Universidad Rafael Landívar, Guatemala) with four years of experience in immigration paralegal work, international human rights litigation support, and advocacy for migrant and asylum-seeking populations in Central America and the Northern Triangle. Practised in U.S. immigration forms and procedure, inter-American complaints, and detention documentation, with hands-on human-rights research on forced displacement, detention conditions and migrant protection gaps. Bilingual Spanish/English (C1), and committed to immigrant rights and access to justice — a strong fit for country-conditions research and expert-report support for asylum cases.

Countries of Expertise
Guatemala (primary) and the Northern Triangle (Honduras, El Salvador); wider Central America and Mexico, with cross-regional exposure to Panama, the Darién, and Venezuelan displacement.

Details of Country Expertise
Human-rights and immigration-focused research and documentation across the Northern Triangle and Central America, directly relevant to asylum and international protection claims.

Areas of expertise:

• Country-conditions and human-mobility research (forced displacement, asylum processing, deportation flows, legislative developments)
• Detention documentation and conditions analysis (e.g., Panama detention centres; U.S.–Panama MOU vs international standards)
• Inter-American human rights system: IACHR complaints and precautionary measures; UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; UNHCR frameworks
• U.S. immigration procedure and asylum forms (I-589, I-765, I-130, I-131, G-28, Parole; eImmigration/Legal Server); removal-defense support
• Trauma-informed victim interviewing; declaration and international-complaint drafting; press monitoring and context reporting

Professional services provided:

• Country-conditions and human-rights research and context reporting
• Detention and protection documentation; habeas and procedural legal research
• Declaration drafting and litigation support for asylum and removal cases
• Translation (English–Spanish); coalition building and advocacy

Experience
Legal Paralegal (remote), Urízar Legal Group — U.S. immigration law firm — drafting/reviewing asylum and family-based forms and evidence packages. Human Rights Researcher, CEJIL (Center for Justice and International Law), Guatemala — weekly press monitoring on human mobility; detention-conditions memo on Panama; support to the Darién Observatory; technical documents on human mobility and climate. Human Rights Advocate (remote), Defiende Venezuela — victim interviewing, international complaints, documentation of violations against Venezuelan migrants/asylum seekers. Founder & Director, Todos Suman NGO, Guatemala. Project Assistant — Social Inclusion & Migration, Organization of American States (OAS). Regional Coordinator, Fundación Oxlajuj N'oj. Legal Assistant & Paralegal, Flores Cano Law Office; Legal Assistant (Criminal Law), Fundación AMG Internacional.

Education & Training
Bachelor of Laws (Legal and Social Sciences), Universidad Rafael Landívar, Guatemala (Academic Merit Scholarship). 43rd Course on International Refugee Law, International Institute of Humanitarian Law, Sanremo (2025); Inter-American Standards on Human Rights with a Focus on Human Mobility, IACHR/OAS (2025); Corporate Responsibility and Labor Migration, IOM/UN Migration (2025); Diploma in Leadership and Social Inclusion, OAS (2024); Aspire Leaders Program, Harvard Business School affiliate (2025); Systemic Change Fellowship, Fundación Mi Sangre (2025–2026); TFAS, Santiago, Chile (2026); Feminist Activism Fellow, María Oropeza Program, LOLA (2024–2025); Legal Counsel Certification, CICAM.

Languages
Spanish (Native), English (Advanced, C1).

Ethnic Groups
Mestizo/Ladino majority of the Northern Triangle; Indigenous Maya peoples of Guatemala (K'iche', Kaqchikel, Mam, Q'eqchi' and others); Xinca and Garífuna (Afro-descendant) communities; Lenca and other Indigenous peoples in Honduras and El Salvador; and other Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities across Central America.

Political Groups
Political opposition members and supporters; anti-corruption and justice-sector defenders (including prosecutors, judges and activists targeted following the CICIG period in Guatemala); journalists and media workers; human rights, land and environmental defenders; witnesses and informants against criminal groups; and individuals at risk for their real or imputed political opinion.

Religious Groups
Roman Catholics; Evangelical and Protestant Christians; practitioners of Maya spirituality and Indigenous religious traditions; and religious leaders or faith-based activists targeted for their work.

Other Social Groups
Refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons and deportees; women and girls at risk of gender-based violence and femicide; LGBTQ+ individuals; children and young people targeted for forced gang recruitment; victims of gang (MS-13, Barrio 18) violence, extortion and trafficking; Indigenous and campesino land defenders; and persons targeted under politically motivated proceedings.