Tamara Shehadeh-Cope, Esq.

Tamara Shehadeh-Cope, Esq. comes to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) with a passion for human rights advocacy and furthering social justice causes. Shehadeh-Cope has dedicated much of her career to the practice of immigration law and serving particularly vulnerable noncitizens throughout the Commonwealth. She has worked diligently to provide trauma-informed advocacy to crime victims and to facilitate access to free legal services, both of which are very important to her.

Prior to joining the PHRC, Shehadeh-Cope worked at Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center (PIRC) in various capacities. In her role as Supervising Attorney for PIRC's Community Programs, Shehadeh-Cope represented undocumented and noncitizen survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and similar crimes before the United States Citizenship and Immigrant Service (USCIS) and the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR). She worked closely with clients in obtaining legal relief under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act while supervising a team of attorneys and Department of Justice (DOJ) Accredited Representatives doing the same.

Additionally, Shehadeh-Cope worked as a staff attorney with the Removal Defense Program, where she provided Know-Your-Rights presentations and information to detained immigrants throughout the Commonwealth as part of the Legal Orientation Program (LOP) at the Department of Justice. Through her work in removal defense, Shehadeh-Cope successfully represented many asylum-seekers and noncitizen detainees in immigration court.

Shehadeh-Cope also worked as Managing Immigration Attorney at Community Justice Project (CJP), a part of the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network (PLAN), where she served immigrant domestic violence survivors in their immigration cases before USCIS and EOIR. Shehadeh-Cope engaged in extensive outreach, connecting with domestic violence shelters and service providers throughout Commonwealth to provide educational trainings to staff and community stakeholders.

A graduate of the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law and Fordham University, Shehadeh-Cope looks forward to contributing to the PHRC's continuing work towards a diverse, just, and inclusive Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

E-mail: tshehadehc@pa.gov