Nanci Vasquez Rios ’19 discovered her calling to help others at an early age.
The daughter of Mexican immigrants who settled in Oregon’s Washington County, Rios grew up seeing the challenges that her family faced navigating complicated U.S. immigration rules. She also grew up aware of the immigration attorneys who walked her family through the process.
“I knew (immigration attorneys) were the people who helped the immigrant community solve their legal status,” said Rios, who graduated from 51łÔąĎ in 2019 with a degree in politics & government. “A lot of adults don’t even know what an immigration attorney does, let alone a middle-schooler.”
From that young age, Rios’ path was set.
“I knew that I wanted to do something for my community and my family,” she said. “So since I was in middle school, I knew that I wanted to practice immigration law.”
A first-generation college student, Rios found her way to Pacific from Portland Community College thanks in part to the transfer partnership program. Following graduation, Rios attended the Roger Williams University School of Law in Rhode Island, earning her law degree in 2022.
Rios’ path came full circle in January 2023 when she landed a legal fellowship through the with , a Forest Grove-based nonprofit whose mission is to empower Latine women and families through education and entrepreneurship. She joined Adelante Mujeres full-time in February 2025 as the organization’s first staff immigration attorney.
As an alumna of the organization’s youth development program, , Rios said the opportunity to contribute to her home community through Adelante Mujeres is a privilege.
“I’m very proud of Adelante,” Rios said. “Adelante has grown so much over the last few years, providing so many different services. When I saw the opportunity with Adelante coming out of law school, I knew that I wanted to be part of this organization.”
Solidifying Her Purpose
Rios’ path to immigration law is firmly rooted in her family’s journey to find opportunity.
Her parents immigrated to the U.S. from the Oaxaca region of Mexico in the late 1990s, when they were teenagers. They settled in Washington County, finding work in the agriculture industry and hoping to create a better life for their families. Other family members soon followed and continue to live in the region.
That background, and her understanding of the stresses of navigating the immigration process, is a comfort to Rios’ clients.
“Once I bring up that my family is also an immigrant family, they are able to open up and feel more confident,” she said. “I share that my parents are immigrants or that I am a first-generation immigrant. I’m able to communicate with them because of where I am from and because of my family and my culture.”
Her family’s journey was a major part of every step in Rios’ education. She wanted to stay close to home, close to family, after graduating from PCC. She looked for a college where she would be known as a person, mentored and encouraged to follow her purpose. She found that at Pacific.
“I wanted an education where I could meet my professors, talk to my professors, where my professors knew my name,” Rios said. “I felt comfortable at Pacific because, one, it is a very close community. Two, I could talk to my professors if I was struggling with something or if I needed help or feedback, and I felt confident doing that.”
Pacific encouraged Rios to continue studying the challenges of immigration. Her senior capstone project focused on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. The program provides participants, known collectively as “Dreamers,” work authorization and temporary protection. Rios researched how being part of the program impacted their ability to work, their wages, and the opportunity for post-secondary education.
Professors like Paul Snell, associate professor of politics & government, not only encouraged the study of the DACA program, but also the study of how the U.S. political system affects people of all nationalities and backgrounds.
“A lot of the courses I took talked about intersectionality, about different groups or their different identities, and how they are impacted by politics,” Rios said. “I knew that I wanted to help people who were in that area of having different identities or coming from different backgrounds.”
A self-described introvert, Rios credits Pacific’s emphasis on community service with helping her develop people skills that help her be more confident with her clients and in the courtroom.
“We had requirements to do community service, and I took one class where we were very hands-on with doing some outside projects. That helped me step out of my comfort zone,” Rios said. “I need to communicate with clients, with the court, with judges. Those different classes where I was required to do projects, to do public speaking, really helped me.”
