Carol Pelton is the co-founder of Pelton + Balducci and has practiced immigration law for more than 15 years. Before going into private practive, Ms. Pelton spent many years serving immigrants and refugees at non-profit organizations in Chicago, IL and the DC area. She worked as the coordinator of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) Pro Bono Project at the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc (CLINIC) in Washington, DC, where she advised practitioners nationwide on complex issues on appeal from the immigration courts. Prior to that, Ms. Pelton was the Director and staff attorney at the Immigration Program at Chicago Legal Clinic, Inc, where she provided immigration legal services and education to an under-served population on Chicago’s southeast side. Additional experiences include work as a staff attorney at a national refugee resettlement agency and teaching English as a second language in Seoul, South Korea. Having lived and studied in Mexico and Uruguay, Ms. Pelton speaks Spanish fluently. She is a graduate of Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Iowa. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association (AILA) and the Federal Bar Association. 

Though Ms. Pelton enjoys handling all types of cases, one area of focus is reuniting families through family immigration and in particular with the I-601A unlawful presence waiver and consular processing. She also frequently handles cases in Immigration Court removal proceedings, many involving appeals to the Board of Immigration of Appeals and Motions to Reopen or Reconsider.