Suleyka Canelo

Suleyka Canelo

Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland

Panelist, Know Your (Their) Rights when Interacting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Suleyka Canelo is the Managing Attorney of the Maryland Immigrant Legal Assistance Project at the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland (PBRC), a role she assumed in 2025. She brings over a decade of experience in immigration law across direct representation, federal asylum adjudication, litigation strategy, and systems-level advocacy. Prior to joining PBRC, Suleyka served with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as an Asylum Officer and later as a Senior Asylum Officer, where she adjudicated high-complexity affirmative asylum cases involving national security, fraud, and statutory bars, conducted supervisory review across asylum offices, and contributed to litigation coordination, training, and national guidance to promote legal and procedural integrity.

Earlier in her career, Suleyka was a Removal Defense / Staff Attorney at Hogar Immigrant Services with Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington, representing asylum seekers and vulnerable immigrants in removal proceedings and humanitarian relief cases. She began her legal career as a William Cranch Legal Fellow at the Council of the District of Columbia’s Office of the General Counsel and gained litigation experience as a Student Attorney in the George Washington University Law School’s Family Justice Litigation Clinic. Suleyka earned her J.D. from the George Washington University Law School and her B.A. in Humanities and Justice Studies (summa cum laude) from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She is admitted to the Supreme Court of Maryland and is a native Spanish speaker.