Law School: Boston University

Undergraduate School: University of Southern California

Fellowship: The Mayor’s Office for Immigration and Refugee Advancement

Ana Mercado Barahona is a rising 2L at Boston University School of Law. She is a first-generation immigrant from Jalisco, Mexico, and a former DACA recipient from Los Angeles, California. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Contemporary Latino and Latin American Studies from the University of Southern California. At USC, she organized undocumented students and established a pop-up center to support their specific needs. Before law school, Mercado Barahona spent five years providing direct legal services in family-based immigration, working in nonprofit organizations and boutique law firms. Her experiences navigating an undocumented status shaped her professional trajectory and fueled her unwavering commitment to social justice. At BU Law, she is dedicated to uplifting first-generation professionals. She will serve as Co-President of BU’s First Generation Professionals and Co-President of the Immigration Law and Policy Society for the 2025-2026 academic year. Mercado Barahona’s legal education is driven by a desire to bridge direct advocacy with public policy, ensuring that her work transcends individual cases to address systemic barriers and create lasting change within immigration law. As a 2025 Rappaport Fellow, Mercado Barahona will spend her summer interning at the Mayor’s Office for Immigration and Refugee Advancement.