Martha E. Garza is the owner and managing attorney of Garza & Associates, a full-service immigration law firm. At a time when immigration laws are becoming more complex and difficult to navigate, Ms. Garza’s objective is to provide top-notch legal representation while remaining financially accessible to immigrants of modest means.

As an immigrant herself, Ms. Garza knows there are few things more stressful than questions about the immigration system. That is why she prides herself on the firm’s commitment to personalized service, and fights aggressively to ensure her clients get the justice they deserve. Ms. Garza is not afraid to take on the most complicated and difficult cases. She has a reputation for winning impossible cases and finding innovative solutions that other lawyers might have overlooked. Ms. Garza believes in a personal approach where she gets to know her clients with a sincere and empathetic approach. As managing attorney, Ms. Garza directly supervises all of the firm’s cases while remaining accessible to every client. She uses her vast experience to personally provide clients with thorough consultations that consider all of the client’s immigration objectives.

Born in Monterrey, Mexico, Martha E. Garza immigrated to the United States of America when she was 10 years of age. In 1989, Ms. Garza graduated summa cum laude from the University of Texas-San Antonio. Ms. Garza earned her law degree from the University of Houston Law Center in 1992, where she earned a Dean’s Scholarship, was a member of the Hispanic Law Student Association, and clerked for several law professors. Ms. Garza was licensed by the State of Texas in 1992. With over two decades’ experience, Ms. Garza has successfully handled hundreds of cases before the United States Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS), the Immigration Court, and the United States Department of State. Ms. Garza has built a practice that serves the diverse immigration needs of individuals, local businesses, and international companies. Ms. Garza has a broad range of experience in all areas of family and employment immigration, including nonimmigrant and immigrant visas, labor certifications, family-based cases, and deportation defense. In addition to being admitted to the State Bar of Texas, Ms. Garza is an accomplished attorney and highly regarded within the Texas immigration legal system. She is admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the U.S. District Court (Southern District of Texas) and the United States Supreme Court.

She is also a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) where she serves in the USCIS Houston District Office AILA committee. She previously served as AILA Liason for the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), the Houston Asylum Office, and the Houston District Office. She served on the Department of Homeland Security Custom’s & Border Protection (CBP) Liaison committee, and also organized the AILA-Texas Chapter Conference in New Orleans. She has been a speaker at the University of Texas Immigration Law Conference, the USCIS Houston District Office, and the Harris County Criminal Bar. She is frequently called on to advise criminal defense attorneys as to the immigration consequences of criminal convictions and post-conviction relief. Ms. Garza’s representation has successfully resulted in several published decisions in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals including Eduard v. Ashcroft, 379 F.3d 195 (5th Cir. 2004), and Mai v. Gonzales, 473 F.3d 162, 164 (5th Cir. 2006). Published decision at the Board of Immigration Appeals include Matter of Hernandez, 26 I&N Dec. 464 (BIA 2015).

You can find Martha E. Garza on Facebook, LinkedIn and Avvo.com.

About

Attorney Mario Gonzalez has over 16 years representing individuals and businesses with all of their immigration needs including business, employment, and family visas, naturalization, and litigation and appeals. However, throughout his immigration practice, Mr. Gonzalez recognized that immigrants settling in the United States needed legal representation and assistance in many other legal matters. As such, since 2007, Mr. Gonzalez began developing a more comprehensive practice that included family, commercial, civil, and estate matters in order to guide foreigners through such unfamiliar and complicated civil legal matters. As a result, Mr. Gonzalez has now represented countless individuals in immigration, family and custody matters, business formations and governance, contract generation and review, civil litigation and business disputes, and wills, trusts, and estate planning. 

Mr. Gonzalez graduated from the University of Texas San Antonio with a Bachelor of Arts in 2001. He earned his law degree at Thurgood Marshall School of Law in May 2005. He was licensed by the State Bar of Texas in November 2005. Mr. Gonzalez is presently admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Gonzalez is also a United States Marine Corps veteran.

Garza & Associates understands that the laws of Texas and the United States are complicated for foreigners, but you can feel confident that Attorney Mario Gonzalez will competently represent or guide you, your family, and your business through unfamiliar and sometimes overwhelming legal processes. 

Practice Areas

Immigration Law including family, employment, and business visas, naturalization, and litigation. 

Family Law including marital agreements, name changes, adoption, paternity, child support, and litigation.

Civil Law including consumer rights, contract disputes, property matters, and personal injury and premises and product liability litigation.

Business Law including business formation and governance, contract review and generation, and commercial dispute litigation.

Estate Law including wills, trusts, and estate planning, guardianships, powers of attorney, and probate administration and litigation.

Attorney Daniel A. Ottaviano was born in Santa Cruz, Bolivia and, at three years old, moved to the United States with his family. As an immigrant who moved to the U.S. in search of a better life and having personally gone through the entire green card and naturalization process himself, Daniel has an intimate knowledge of the immigration system. Helping others achieve their dreams of providing a better life for themselves and their families is what motivates and drives Daniel’s zealous representation of each and every client.

Daniel married his beautiful wife, Cynthia Ottaviano, after the COVID-19 pandemic. Having survived each other and the pandemic, Daniel and Cynthia said their vows and welcomed their first child, little Kalithia Ottaviano, in June 2020. They also have 2 dogs, Enzo and Jay, who round out their group of 5. Providing for and spending time with his family are some of Daniel’s greatest joys and source of pride.

Daniel considers himself a native Texan, having attended military boarding school for high school in San Marcos and excelling in the JROTC program. He graduated with Honors and in the Top 10% of his graduating class of 2000. In 2004, Daniel received his Bachelor’s degree from the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin. He, then, worked as a legal assistant for Granger, Mueller & Wood, PC, a well-known and respected local criminal defense firm in downtown Austin. For the next three years, Daniel used his fluency in Spanish and meticulous attention to detail to help hone his legal skills. Daniel conducted hundreds of visits with clients in criminal detention, also prepared and filed bond paperwork to secure client’s get release from jail. Daniel also assisted the attorneys with various motions, trial preparation, and interpretations/translations for the firm’s vast Spanish-speaking clientele. Working intimately in criminal defense cemented Daniel’s desire to attend law school so that he could continue fighting to protect people’s legal rights. 

In 2007, Daniel enrolled in the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  While there, Daniel concentrated his focus and efforts in refining his litigation skills. He volunteered in various Mock Trial and Moot Court competitions and was the Chair of the Mock Trial Board at his campus during his final year of law school. Daniel also participated in various legal clinics, including the Michigan Migrant Legal Assistance Project (MMLAP).  This is when he first developed a sense of helping immigrant families obtain fair and proper legal help and representation. 

He graduated and received his Juris Doctor degree in 2010 and passed the February 2011 Bar Exam. Since then, Daniel has litigated hundreds of immigration and nationality law cases. He has conducted numerous Master Calendar, Individual and trial hearings in both detained and non-detained federal immigration court. Using his criminal defense background, Daniel’s main area of practice is Deportations and Removal Proceedings.  Often times, the areas of criminal and immigration law overlap and it extremely beneficial to have an attorney that can help you in both. Daniel has also helped many people in obtaining their lawful permanent residence and U.S. citizenship, including his siblings, with USCIS. Daniel is a Swiss Army knife in terms of being able to handle all kinds of different and complicated immigration matters. He is known to zealously fight for each client and speak up for those who can’t. We are proud to have him on our team.