Meet Our Team

Attorney

Maraliz Cartagena is a Senior Associate Attorney in the Immigration Department at Latorre Law Firm, where she supervises the firm’s Removal Defense Department. She has more than eight years of experience representing clients across a broad range of immigration matters, with a particular focus on removal defense and immigration court litigation. Her practice includes removal proceedings and representation before immigration courts, as well as family-based petitions and applications, including I-130 petitions, U visas, VAWA cases, and waivers.   Maraliz earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Puerto Rico School of Law, graduating with honors. She began her legal career in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. In recognition of her exemplary work, she received the Civil Rights Division Assistant Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award in 2016. Her commitment to advocating for immigrant communities ultimately led her to transition from civil rights litigation to the practice of immigration law.  

As a native Spanish speaker, Maraliz is passionate about serving and advocating for the Spanish speaking community. She is also a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) since 2023.

  Outside of work, Maraliz enjoys exploring new places, discovering new foods and flavors, traveling, and spending time outdoors.