Biography
Professor Purce is an assistant professor teaching in the Immigration Clinic and is the Director of the Portland Immigration Initiative. For 11 years, she held leadership positions and provided direct legal services for low-income immigrants at Catholic Charities Immigration Legal Services. Most recently, she was the managing attorney for Portland Community College's CLEAR Clinic limited scope deportation defense program. Her work has focused primarily on representing immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking.
Professor Purce received her undergraduate degree from Western Washington University and graduated cum laude from the American University, Washington College of Law. She was a Note & Comment Editor for the International Law Review.
She is a member of the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA), Oregon State Bar (OSB), and is the chair of the Oregon Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). She also serves as the chair of the Oregon Department of Justice's Immigrant Crime Victims' Rights subcommittee, as a member of the Oregon Labor Trafficking Taskforce, and is the Co-President of the board for the ACLU of Oregon.