D.C. DRAKE has extensive experience in virtually every area of immigration law, including temporary and permanent employment sponsorships, family petitions, asylum and humanitarian cases, removal (deportation) proceedings and naturalization. He has represented clients before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Board of Immigration Appeals, Federal District and Appellate Courts, Immigration Courts across the country and U.S. Embassies around the world.
Mr. Drake holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Studies from Rhodes College and a Master’s Degree in International Relations and Communications from the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce at the University of Kentucky (1998). He is a 2007 graduate of the George Mason University School of Law (GMUSL) in Arlington, Virginia and is admitted to the Virginia State Bar. He practices before U.S. Immigration Courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals and is also licensed to practice before the U.S. District Courts for District of Columbia and the Eastern District of Virginia, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second, Fourth and Eleventh Circuits, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Mr. Drake is a past Chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Association DC Chapter and served on its Executive Committee from 2016 to 2020. His prior positions include Chair of the AILA Liaison Committee with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations and Office of the Chief Counsel (2013-2015); Liaison Committee with the Arlington Immigration Court (2012-2013); Litigation Committee (2015-2016); and Liaison Committee with the USCIS Washington District Office (2010-2012; 2015-2016).
Mr. Drake was Adjunct Professor of Immigration Law at George Mason University School of Law from 2014 to 2017 and was the Founder and long-time Attorney Adviser for GMU’s Immigration Law Society. He is Student Outreach Liaison for AILA’s DC Chapter and he founded and administers their Intern Match Program, which has placed student interns with private immigration practitioners in the Washington, DC and Baltimore areas since 2011.
Mr. Drake often works with local organizations to provide pro bono services and has twice been given awards for his service, including the 2012 Michael Maggio Pro Bono Award. He has served on the Board of Immigration Appeals Pro Bono Project; taught clinics with Catholic Charities and participated in clinics with the DC Bar; Catholic Charities, CAIR Coalition and others. Mr. Drake has also participated in AILA’s legislative efforts in Washington DC for over a decade in pursuit of diligent oversight of immigration agencies and sensible reform.