Lacy Brinson McAndrew is an immigration attorney, federal litigator, and legal educator with more than 20 years of experience. Through Lacy Brinson PLLC, she maintains an independent federal immigration practice, serves as Of Counsel to Arce Immigration, and provides advanced training and mentorship to private-bar attorneys through Court Mentor.
Before returning to private practice in August 2026, Lacy served for nearly eight years with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas (WDTX), where she served as the district’s Civil Immigration Coordinator. She represented the United States in complex immigration-related litigation involving habeas corpus, mandamus, Administrative Procedure Act claims, citizenship and naturalization, denaturalization, FOIA, and immigration-related tort claims. She also represented the United States before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, including presenting oral argument in a case of first impression.
Lacy became a recognized immigration law subject matter resource within DOJ. Her work required close coordination with numerous federal agencies and included advising senior government officials on novel and high-profile immigration-related legal questions. Her federal service was recognized with, among other honors, the WDTX Impact Award in 2020 and an Exceptionally Significant Litigation Award in 2025.
Before joining DOJ, Lacy spent six years as an Assistant Chief Counsel with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where she represented the government in removal proceedings before the San Antonio Immigration Court and on appeal before the Board of Immigration Appeals. Earlier in her federal career, she served as a Legal Instructor at the ICE Academy in Glynco, Georgia, where she developed curriculum and trained federal agents.
Lacy began her legal career in private immigration practice as an associate attorney with Kurzban, Kurzban, Weinger & Tetzeli, P.A., in Miami, Florida, where she first met and worked alongside attorney Carmen Arce under the direct supervision of nationally recognized immigration authority Ira Kurzban. Lacy represented individuals and businesses in family- and employment-based immigration matters, administrative proceedings, removal proceedings, and federal litigation. She also assisted with multiple editions of Kurzban’s Immigration Law Sourcebook and was selected to the Florida Super Lawyers Rising Stars list in 2010.
Lacy’s perspective has been shaped by practicing immigration law from multiple vantage points. She is particularly experienced in habeas and detention matters, mandamus and APA litigation, citizenship and naturalization cases, removal defense and BIA practice, appellate strategy, complex immigration research and writing, and high-stakes case assessment.
Lacy’s federal immigration law practice is based in San Antonio, Texas, where she is a mom to two boys. When she is not lawyering, Lacy is songwriting, performing acoustically with her guitar in the Texas Hill Country, and thrifting.