Gerald Burns

Gerald E. Burns founded the Burns Law Office, P.L.C. in 2001. Mr. Burns, a well-respected member of the Arizona immigration legal community, started the firm based on two simple principles: that all persons should be treated with the utmost respect and a sincere belief that immigrants, their families and loved ones deserve dedicated and skilled legal representation. He has over 15 years of experience in immigration and nationality law representing clients before the Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Executive Office of Immigration Review (U.S. Immigration Courts), the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the 9th and 10th Circuit Courts of Appeal and many U.S. Consulates worldwide.

As an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Mr. Burns has served three consecutive terms as Chair of the Arizona AILA Chapter and was Chair of the AILA National Family Immigration Committee. Mr. Burns has been a featured speaker at the AILA National Conference on issues related to complex Adjustment of Status cases and obtaining Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S. He has testified on behalf of AILA several times before the Arizona Senate and House of Representatives and has appeared in local and national media outlets speaking on a wide range of immigration topics, most recently the legal validity of SB1070 and most recent legislative disaster, SB1062, widely described as an attack on Arizona’s LGBT community.

Mercedes Ryden

Mercedes Ryden is an experienced litigator and a passionate advocate for immigrant rights. Ms. Ryden joined the Burns Law Office in August 2011 and has over eight years of experience handling immigration and certain criminal matters. Her immigration practice is focused primarily on family-based immigration and removal defense, with a particular specialization in humanitarian immigration. She has earned a national reputation as a passionate advocate for immigrant victims of domestic violence and violent crime. Ms. Ryden has actively served on the executive committee of the Arizona AILA Chapter for the last five years of AILA and has served as Chair of the Arizona AILA Chapter.