FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Litigators, retired judges, and business and community leaders join forces to challenge unlawful immigration action, represent immigrants facing detention and deportation, hold the government accountable, and raise public awareness.
BOSTON, MA — November 9, 2026 — Mass Deportation Defense (MDD), a nonprofit legal organization founded to defend immigrants facing detention and deportation, today announces the formation of its founding Board of Directors. The Board unites elite litigators, retired federal and state judges, and accomplished business and community leaders. Together, they stand behind MDD’s mission: to challenge unlawful immigration action, to represent individual immigrants facing detention or deportation, to pursue civil damages on behalf of victimized immigrants and their families, and to raise awareness through public advocacy and community engagement.
“This Board is formidable. It reflects diverse and exceptional leaders ready to meet the moment and hold the government accountable: litigators who have won before the Supreme Court, prosecutors, judges, and lawyers who know how these cases are built and defended, and business and community leaders who know how to amplify an organization built to last,” said Todd C. Pomerleau, President and Co-Founder of MDD. “Together, we intend to get even—to ensure that unlawful action, individual injustice, and government misconduct all meet the same fate.”
A Board Built Around MDD’s Mission
Challenging unlawful immigration action. The Board’s litigators include several winners of national awards who have appeared frequently before the country’s federal courts. Erica L. Ross, a former Assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General and Law Clerk to Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, personally argued 16 cases before the Court. David J. Zimmer, also a former Justice Kagan Clerk, argued or second-chaired seven merits cases before the Court, including the landmark immigration decisions Pereira v. Sessions, an 8-1 victory in 2018 impacting millions, and Niz-Chavez v. Garland. Todd C. Pomerleau and Jeffrey B. Rubin co-counseled Pereira, and their firm, Rubin Pomerleau—MDD’s Gold Sponsor—has been at the forefront of challenging unlawful immigration enforcement for over a decade, particularly at the District Court, Circuit Courts of Appeal, and the Board of Immigration Appeals. Jesse M. Bless, a former Office of Immigration Litigation attorney and Director of Federal Litigation at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, is an impact litigator with a national practice who has won many novel cases.
Representing individual immigrants. The Board includes veteran immigration and postconviction attorneys Ronald L. Abramson, an elite litigator, Harvey Kaplan, a law professor and retired immigration attorney, and Danielle M. Wood, Vice President and Executive Director of MDD, who together bring decades of direct experience defending immigrants in detention and removal proceedings and “crimmigration.” Hon. Nancy Gertner (Ret.) and Hon. Leila R. Kern (Ret.), whose combined decades on the federal and state bench, give MDD’s advocacy a courtroom-tested edge. Prior to the bench, Judge Gertner was a leading civil rights and criminal defense litigator. Judge Kern was a founding member of the largest all-woman law firm in Massachusetts. Kerry E. Doyle brings decades of experience in complex removal defense and federal litigation in addition to the view from inside the system. As Principal Legal Advisor for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, she led more than 1,700 attorneys and staff, and she went on to serve as Deputy General Counsel at the Department of Homeland Security before being chosen as an Immigration Judge. Kerry gives MDD firsthand insight into how immigration policy is made, enforced, and decided.
Pursuing civil damages. Robert M. Thomas, Jr. has secured some of the largest False Claims Act recoveries in U.S. history, including settlements of $885 million and $762 million in two separate cases. Sara Miron Bloom led federal civil and criminal fraud cases at the United States Attorney’s office that recovered approximately $6 billion for the government before joining MDD as Legal Director, and Sara McLean brings more than 25 years of False Claims Act enforcement and defense experience from the U.S. Department of Justice and private practice.
Public advocacy and community engagement. The Board also includes business, community, and technology leaders. Todd Faber is an attorney, business development executive, and podcast host. David Thach is Founder, Board Member, and former CEO of Zeal IT Consultants. Iqram Magdon-Ismail is the founder of JellyJelly and co-founder of Venmo. Mernaysa Rivera-Bujosa, a trilingual real estate attorney and community nonprofit leader, along with Marcel Rosa, whose family’s own experience with immigration detention grounds MDD’s work in the lived reality of the clients it serves. Together, they will elevate MDD’s mission on the local and national stage.
Founding Board of Directors
Todd C. Pomerleau
President; Partner, Rubin Pomerleau, PC
Danielle M. Wood
Vice President and Executive Director; Owner, Law Office of Danielle M. Wood
Sara Miron Bloom
Treasurer and Legal Director; former Acting U.S. Attorney, District of Rhode Island
Mernaysa Rivera-Bujosa
Secretary; President, Rivera-Bujosa Law, PC
Ronald L. Abramson
Deputy Director; Partner, Shaheen & Gordon, P.A.
Jesse M. Bless
Owner, Bless Litigation, LLC
Kerry E. Doyle
Partner, Green and Spiegel; former Principal Legal Advisor, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Todd Faber
Principal, The Faber Group
Hon. Nancy Gertner (Ret.)
Retired Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts; Professor of Practice, Harvard Law School
Harvey Kaplan
Retired immigration attorney; former Professor, Northeastern University School of Law
Hon. Leila R. Kern (Ret.)
Retired Judge, Massachusetts Superior Court
Iqram Magdon-Ismail
Co-Founder, Venmo; Founder, JellyJelly
Sara McLean
Partner, Akin Gump
Marcel Rosa
Contract Specialist
Erica L. Ross
Partner, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP; former Assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General
Jeffrey B. Rubin
Partner, Rubin Pomerleau, PC
David Thach
Founder, Board Member, and former CEO of Zeal IT Consultants
Robert M. Thomas Jr.
Co-Founder, Whistleblower Law Collaborative
David J. Zimmer
Co-Founder, Zimmer, Citron & Clarke
Read more about our board members here.
About Mass Deportation Defense Inc.
Mass Deportation Defense (MDD) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 41-2598915) founded in October 2025 by Todd C. Pomerleau, President, and Danielle M. Wood, Vice President and Executive Director, in response to the government’s unlawful assault on immigrants and their families. To learn more about MDD or to get involved, visit massdeportationdefense.org.
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