Eric B. Sigmon oversees Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service’s (LIRS) refugee and immigration advocacy work and manages constituent engagement. He has played a critical role in the passage of legislation that enhanced protections for unaccompanied migrant children, child trafficking victims, Haitian orphans, and Iraqi and Afghan refugees. He has also successfully advocated for the Administration to reform the immigration detention system, increase protections for Haitians and Liberians at risk of being deported, and provide greater funding assistance for refugee resettlement, the immigration court system, legal orientation programs, and alternatives to detention programs.
Prior to joining LIRS, Eric worked at the National Center for Refugee and Immigrant Children, a program of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, where he recruited pro bono attorneys nationwide to represent unaccompanied immigrant children and advocated for the improved treatment of unaccompanied children appearing before immigration courts.
He has also worked in international development field, overseeing microfinance and economic development projects in Iraq, Morocco, Egypt and the Philippines.
He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and is fluent in Spanish.
The House of Representatives should take a deep breath, change course, and revise its Violence Against Women Act bill to ensure that our laws continue to uphold our nation’s proud tradition of protecting vulnerable immigrant victims.
