Reuveni Joins Growing Litigation Team that Includes Many Former Civil Servants Who Have Left Federal Government Posts Amidst Concerns Over Executive Overreach

President & CEO Perryman: “We are fighting for an American democracy that serves all people and are building teams that can respond quickly and win in court against what is an increasingly accelerated autocratic power grab by President Trump and his administration.”

Washington, D.C. – Democracy Forward today announced that long-time U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) career civil servant, immigration litigator Erez Reuveni, will join its legal team as a Senior Counsel. 

In his 15 years at DOJ, Erez oversaw high profile cases on behalf of the U.S. government across both Democratic and Republican administrations. Until he was wrongfully fired by the Trump-Vance administration in April for refusing to lie to federal judges during a hearing and on briefing regarding Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a man who was removed in error from the country to an El Salvador gulag-like prison without due process, Erez served as Acting Deputy Director in the Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL) in the DOJ’s Civil Division. He previously served as Counsel and Senior Counsel in the office of the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, advising leadership and agency clients on litigation and policy matters and helped oversee nearly 400 attorneys. Over the course of his DOJ career, Erez personally handled or supervised many of the federal government’s most complex, highest-profile, and consequential immigration cases in the federal district and appellate courts. 

This summer, prior to joining Democracy Forward, Erez made a protected whistleblower disclosure to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, the Office of Special Counsel, and the Office of the Inspector General at DOJ documenting the Trump-Vance administration’s failure to follow court orders and its attempts to undermine the judicial process.

Erez now joins Democracy Forward where he will represent people and communities in defense of the Constitution and the rule of law. He is the latest addition to Democracy Forward’s growing team, which includes a number of former career DOJ veterans and senior officials.  

“At Democracy Forward, we are fighting for an American democracy that serves all people and are building teams that can respond quickly and win in court against what is an increasingly accelerated autocratic power grab by President Trump and his administration. Erez’s expertise in immigration law, his experience working as a civil servant in both Democratic and Republican administrations, and his integrity in refusing to allow political pressure to override his ethical obligation as an attorney to be candid with and not lie to a federal court–a decision that cost him his job–will add to our team’s deep bench of lawyers committed to the Constitution and the defense of people and communities,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “Our commitment to the nation is steadfast: we will do all that it takes to ensure that people in this country can access the courts, demand a public accounting when the government violates their rights, and prevail in defense of their rights. The only way out of this chapter in our nation is through it, and through it together.” 

“For 15 years as a career civil servant, I defended the government and its policies, regardless of the president or administration under which I served, and regardless of my personal views of those policies, as career civil servants commit to when they take the oath to uphold and defend the Constitution upon their service. But as the Department of Justice turns its back on the Constitution and the rule of law I want to be on the side fighting for the people–all people–and the rule of law, not the side tearing it down, and that brings me to the incredible team at Democracy Forward,” said Reuveni. “The Trump-Vance administration’s targeting of immigrants in this country is a prime example of its disregard for the rule of law and the Constitution, and is a threat to all Americans. I am excited for the opportunity to put my expertise to work and to join a team of exceptional high-integrity lawyers and an organization leading the charge to defend all people, communities, and the rule of law across the nation.” 

Prior to serving at DOJ, Erez worked at Morrison Foerster and served as a law clerk for Judge Jon O. Newman on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and Judge Mark L. Wolf of the District of Massachusetts. Judge Wolf recently resigned from the federal bench after four decades of service, in order to more vocally sound the alarm regarding the threats to judges and the rule of law that are being perpetuated by this administration.   

Since President Trump’s inauguration, Democracy Forward has served as a critical bulwark against the unconstitutional actions that we are seeing the new administration take. Democracy Forward has been called the “single largest source of Trump’s legal troubles” by The Atlantic, filing hundreds of legal actions that have secured significant victories that directly protect people and communities from harmful policies. In addition to Democracy Forward’s own litigation docket, Democracy 2025, the strategic legal network of 650 organizations housed at Democracy Forward, has been credited with coordinating the largest and most effective legal strategy against unlawful executive action in modern U.S. history. That includes multiple immigration-related matters in federal and state courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Democracy Forward Foundation is a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy, public education, and regulatory engagement. For more information, please visit www.democracyforward.org.