Mary O’Rourke - Houston, TX

Attorney Mary O’Rourke is passionate about due process and keeping families together. She has spent her entire career helping immigrants navigate a rapidly changing immigration system. A native of upstate New York, Attorney O’Rourke relocated to San Antonio, Texas to begin her career as a nonprofit immigration attorney representing detained families. She continued that work and expanded her practice at a private immigration firm, which brought her to Houston.

Attorney O’Rourke graduated from Villanova Law School, where she served as a Student Attorney at the Clinic for Asylum, Refugee, and Emigrant Services, successfully representing clients seeking affirmative asylum. As a recipient of a Public Interest Fellowship, Attorney O’Rourke represented migrant farmworkers in immigration and employment-related matters, and later joined the Public Interest Fellowship Program board to organize fundraisers for future recipients. She interned at two immigration firms in Philadelphia, where she gained crimmigration and employment- based immigration experience. She was also the President of Immigration Law Society. Attorney O’Rourke graduated magna cum laude from Siena College with a B.A. in Spanish, a B.S. in Marketing, and a Pre-Law Certificate.

Attorney O’Rourke develops and implements case strategies using a client-centered approach. She has extensive experience representing clients in complex matters before the Executive Office of Immigration Review, Board of Immigration Appeals, and the Houston Asylum Office. Attorney O’Rourke has also represented detainees in federal court on petitions for writs of habeas corpus and temporary restraining orders. She has assisted clients in filing immigrant and nonimmigrant visa petitions, applications for adjustment of status and naturalization, waivers of inadmissibility and deportability, humanitarian and military parole, TPS, and DACA. She has also helped domestic violence survivors and crime victims apply for visas. As a nonprofit attorney, Attorney O’Rourke represented recently-arrived detained families in expedited removal and custody redetermination proceedings. Attorney O’Rourke also represented unaccompanied minors, asylum seekers criminally charged under Operation Lone Star, and immigrants impacted by the Migrant Protection Protocols and Title 42. She frequently gave Know Your Rights presentations to detained clients and supervised law student volunteers.

Attorney O’Rourke is a member of the State Bar of Texas and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). She is admitted to practice in the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas. In 2023 and 2024, she was recognized as a Rising Star Attorney by Scene in San Antonio magazine. She is fluent in Spanish.