Lindsay is the Co-Founder and President/CEO of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) where she leads a team of over 200 fierce advocates for immigrant rights. From the U.S.-Mexico border to ICE prisons and courtrooms all over Southern California, ImmDef's team is at the forefront of ensuring access to the U.S. asylum system, defending due process in our courts and creating systemic change in our immigration system. Lindsay has worked for more than two decades to increase access to justice for immigrants and is a recognized leader in the movement for universal representation for all those facing deportation.

Driven by the vision that no immigrant should navigate the complexities and injustices of the U.S. immigration system alone, Lindsay and co-founder Susan Alva established ImmDef to address the immediate need for legal representation in life-or-death deportation proceedings. They aimed not only to provide legal defense but to reshape the system to ensure better outcomes for immigrants for decades to come. Since co-founding ImmDef, Lindsay has been a driving force behind its growth into an organization that serves tens of thousands of immigrants annually throughout Southern California.

Lindsay’s visionary leadership has helped shape the growth and development of every program at ImmDef, including those that serve unaccompanied children, families separated at the border and by deportations, deported veterans, asylum seeking families, people in need of post-conviction relief and asylum seekers trapped in Mexico and unable to seek protection. Under her guidance, ImmDef has remained committed to the principle that every person deserves a fighting chance to defend their rights and an opportunity to seek safety and freedom. Her vision for creating systemic change also led to the development of ImmDef’s Litigation & Advocacy department, which integrates legal strategy with narrative change through strategic communications.

In addition to her role as President/CEO, Lindsay continues to personally represent a small number of clients and frequently provides emergency legal services on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. In the past decade since founding ImmDef, Lindsay has led efforts to respond to emergent situations impacting immigrants including the response at LAX to Trump’s Muslim Ban, the arrival of migrant caravans in Tijuana, the fight to end the “Remain in Mexico” Policy, the emergency responses to the arrival of tens of thousands of children at Emergency Intake Sites and the street releases of nearly 150,000 migrants in San Diego.

Before founding ImmDef in 2015, Lindsay provided legal representation and advocacy for thousands of immigrants and refugees while working at with various nonprofit organizations in the U.S. and abroad, including Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Kids in Need of Defense and the Children's Law Center of California. She began her legal career as a USC Irmas Fellow with Asylum Access in Ecuador, providing legal assistance to refugees. She has served on Asylum Access’s Board of Directors since 2017 working alongside refugee communities to advance refugee rights globally.

As an expert on issues such as forced migration, border policies, unaccompanied children, family separations, universal representation, ICE prisons and access to counsel, Lindsay has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, and national and local NBC, CBS, and ABC programs. She has been quoted in major publications including the including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and on National Public Radio (NPR). Her work and her client’s story were also highlighted in Jacob Soboroff’s 2020 book Separated, which explores the Trump administration’s zero tolerance family separation policies.

Lindsay and ImmDef have been recognized for their impactful work by local and state officials, including then-Senator Kamala Harris, Supervisor Hilda Solis, and former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. She has also been honored by the ACLU of Southern California, USC’s Latino Law Students Association, the Women’s Law Association, and was named one of California’s Top Lawyers Under 40 by the Daily Journal in 2019.

Lindsay earned her undergraduate degree from San Diego State University and her J.D. from the USC Gould School of Law. She lives in Los Angeles and is a mom to two children who are her inspirations to keep fighting for a more just world.