Senior Director, US Policy & Advocacy

Melanie Nezer is Senior Director for U.S. Policy & Advocacy for HIAS.  Ms. Nezer directs HIAS’ Washington, DC office and coordinates with HIAS’ immigration and refugee services department.  Ms. Nezer is actively involved with education and advocacy on immigration, asylum, and refugee protection issues.  She is the current Chair of Refugee Council USA's Advocacy Committee.

In her previous role at HIAS, Ms. Nezer was Migration Policy Counsel and Director of the Employment Visa Program, representing at-risk Jewish professionals and religious workers seeking to work in the U.S. during times of instability and crisis in their home countries.  Before joining HIAS, Ms. Nezer was the Immigration Policy Director for the organization now known as US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), where in addition to conducting advocacy on immigration and asylum issues, she was co-editor of Refugee Reports and a writer for the annual World Refugee Survey.  Prior to her work in Washington, Ms. Nezer was in private practice in Miami, Florida, where she specialized in immigration law and criminal defense.

Ms. Nezer obtained her law degree from Boston College Law School and her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.