Carolina Martin Ramos
Carolina Martin Ramos, Esq. is Co-Executive Director at Comunidad Maya Pixan Ixim (CMPI). Carolina is Mexica Mestiza and Tsalagi (Cherokee Descendant & Bird Clan) and resides in the Cherokee Nation Reservation. The Omaha Q'anjob'al Maya community chose Carolina to serve as Co-Executive Director at CMPI. Initially, she declined the offer because she is not Maya and thought the position should be held by a Maya woman. However, she accepted after Maya leadership explained that she was selected for this honor in a traditional way and in accordance with Maya shared governance models, the Maya calendar, Maya beliefs, and because she had proven herself a good relative and friend to Maya people.
Carolina is a licensed attorney who has practiced law for over 13 years. She started her law practice in the State of New Mexico as a public defender but moved into the area of immigration law and human rights. Her work has focused on the rights of Indigenous Peoples and especially forcibly displaced Indigenous migrants. Carolina has worked as an attorney in nonprofit legal services organizations, private practice, and state & federal government. She has served in director and management positions and adjudicated asylum applications as a U.S. federal immigration officer at USCIS. In 2021, Carolina spearheaded the legal services, advocacy, and other human rights efforts of the Maya Indigenous Human Rights Program at CMPI. Today, she is mentoring Maya Program Managers so that they can direct the program in the future.
Carolina has been drawn to efforts to respond to humanitarian crises and served in the Red Owl Water Protector Legal Collective, Legal Tent at Standing Rock No DAPL efforts, provided free legal services to asylum seekers at multiple "surges" and caravan events at the U.S. - Mexico border region, and was one of the first attorneys who traveled to Maya Territories in Guatemala to find deported parents separated from their children under the Trump administration's Zero Tolerance Policy that caused thousands of children mostly, Maya children to be separated form their families and even lost. She continues working with and advocating for these separated families today with organizational partners. In 2022, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) asked Carolina to travel with Maya children to Maya Territories to ensure that the children were returned to their parents after the children were almost adopted out to non-Indigenous families in the U.S. Carolina is known for delivering advocacy with great heart, courage, and creativity. Carolina also serves as a board member with the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), Water Protector Legal Collective (WPLC) and on the boards of other Indigenous led organizations.
Carolina spent years in California, New Mexico, and Mexico. She loves being in nature, surfing, yoga, riding horses, dance, and arts but tends to work too much and doesn't do any of these things much. She is inspired by her clients, children, Crosslin Smith and Harry Styles. Carolina has a very Mexican heart and tries to return to her mother's homelands as much as possible. Carolina was recently welcomed home to the Cherokee Nation Reservation where she lives with her family on wooded acres with bird and deer near a lake and ceremonial stomp grounds. She is a mother and looks forward to the birth of her grandchild in September 2022. One of her labors of love is re-establishing relationships between Cherokee and Maya peoples separated by colonial borders and policies. Unfortunately, the Cherokee and Maya share experiences of forced displacement, genocide, and having children taken by the U.S. government. Nonetheless, through these connections, Cherokee and Maya peoples have found many common shared beliefs and practices and enjoy good relationships.
Carolina is a licensed attorney who has practiced law for over 13 years. She started her law practice in the State of New Mexico as a public defender but moved into the area of immigration law and human rights. Her work has focused on the rights of Indigenous Peoples and especially forcibly displaced Indigenous migrants. Carolina has worked as an attorney in nonprofit legal services organizations, private practice, and state & federal government. She has served in director and management positions and adjudicated asylum applications as a U.S. federal immigration officer at USCIS. In 2021, Carolina spearheaded the legal services, advocacy, and other human rights efforts of the Maya Indigenous Human Rights Program at CMPI. Today, she is mentoring Maya Program Managers so that they can direct the program in the future.
Carolina has been drawn to efforts to respond to humanitarian crises and served in the Red Owl Water Protector Legal Collective, Legal Tent at Standing Rock No DAPL efforts, provided free legal services to asylum seekers at multiple "surges" and caravan events at the U.S. - Mexico border region, and was one of the first attorneys who traveled to Maya Territories in Guatemala to find deported parents separated from their children under the Trump administration's Zero Tolerance Policy that caused thousands of children mostly, Maya children to be separated form their families and even lost. She continues working with and advocating for these separated families today with organizational partners. In 2022, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) asked Carolina to travel with Maya children to Maya Territories to ensure that the children were returned to their parents after the children were almost adopted out to non-Indigenous families in the U.S. Carolina is known for delivering advocacy with great heart, courage, and creativity. Carolina also serves as a board member with the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), Water Protector Legal Collective (WPLC) and on the boards of other Indigenous led organizations.
Carolina spent years in California, New Mexico, and Mexico. She loves being in nature, surfing, yoga, riding horses, dance, and arts but tends to work too much and doesn't do any of these things much. She is inspired by her clients, children, Crosslin Smith and Harry Styles. Carolina has a very Mexican heart and tries to return to her mother's homelands as much as possible. Carolina was recently welcomed home to the Cherokee Nation Reservation where she lives with her family on wooded acres with bird and deer near a lake and ceremonial stomp grounds. She is a mother and looks forward to the birth of her grandchild in September 2022. One of her labors of love is re-establishing relationships between Cherokee and Maya peoples separated by colonial borders and policies. Unfortunately, the Cherokee and Maya share experiences of forced displacement, genocide, and having children taken by the U.S. government. Nonetheless, through these connections, Cherokee and Maya peoples have found many common shared beliefs and practices and enjoy good relationships.
