Lizbeth Velasquez

Lizbeth Jimena Velasquez is an immigration attorney with Chhabra, Gibbs & Trehan, PLLC. She is known as Jimena in the Hispanic community. She speaks Spanish and represents individuals and families in removal and deportation defense, family-based and employment-based visas, naturalization and citizenship, waivers, nonimmigrant visas, and habeas corpus. She has 3+ years of immigration experience.

Lizbeth was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and immigrated to Mississippi at age five. She has been a member of the Mississippi Hispanic Association since 1996; her mother helped establish the association. Today she serves as the association’s Treasurer and directs its Bilingual Reading Program and Scholarship Program. She has directed the Scholarship Program since 2008.

She came to law after nearly 20 years as an archaeologist, including more than 18 years in the Environmental Division of the Mississippi Department of Transportation, where she worked to preserve Mississippi’s cultural and historical sites. She changed careers to have a more direct impact on Mississippi’s Hispanic community.

Lizbeth earned her J.D. from Mississippi College School of Law in 2023 and was admitted to The Mississippi Bar in September 2023. In 2021 she was a legal intern in the Civil Litigation Division of the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office. Her legal experience, in order, is:

• Jackson, MS law firm, Attorney, December 2023 – November 2025
• El Pueblo, Forest, MS, Legal Orientation Program Contractor, December 2023 – April 2025
• Mississippi Immigrants’ Rights Alliance, Jackson, MS, Paralegal, The Legal Project, August 2023 – November 2023
• Mississippi Immigrants’ Rights Alliance, Jackson, MS, Externship, The Legal Project, Spring 2023

She has practiced in immigration courts in Hawaii, Washington, California, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, New York, Massachusetts, and Florida, and works with USCIS, the National Visa Center, U.S. consulates, EOIR, ICE, and immigration detention facilities.