The American Immigration Council Announces Kate Melloy Goettel As Legal Director of Litigation

WASHINGTON—The American Immigration Council has named experienced attorney and litigator Kate Melloy Goettel to be its legal director of litigation.

For the past three years, Goettel has been associate director of litigation at the National Immigrant Justice Center where she litigated the nation's most high-profile immigration issues, including unlawful detention, the laws surrounding immigrant youth, interior enforcement, and family separation. Previously, she worked for eight years in the Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation and clerked for a U.S. District Judge in the Southern District of Iowa.

In her new role, Goettel will lead the Council’s impact litigation efforts to achieve a fair and just immigration system, including class actions and amicus brief strategies. Goettel will be based in Chicago and begins her new duties on June 8.

“Kate Melloy Goettel brings a very strong litigation background and a reputation for integrity and achievement,” said Beth Werlin, executive director of the American Immigration Council. “We’re absolutely delighted she’s bringing her considerable talents and skills to the Council.”

Goettel has practiced in nearly 40 federal district courts, eight courts of appeal, and the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2019, she received the NGO Lawyer of the Year award from the Federal Bar Association's Immigration Law Section.

“Immigrants are facing extraordinary hostility and hardship in the current political climate. The Council has built a talented team of lawyers who are fighting back in the courts. I am excited to join this team to defend the rights of immigrants and defeat hateful policies,” said Kate Melloy Goettel, legal director of litigation at the American Immigration Council.

Goettel graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law where she currently serves as an adjunct law professor. Before law school, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kosrae, Micronesia.

###

 For more information, contact:

 Maria Frausto at the American Immigration Council, [email protected] or 202-507-7526.