J Enrique Tellez was born in Waukegan, Illinois to a father born in the United States, and a mother born in Guanajuato, Mexico. His mother came to the U.S. to study nursing, and just like many of the clients he helps ended up making the U.S. her home.

Mr. Tellez graduated from Loyola University Chicago, majoring in Criminal Justice, and with a minor in Latin American Studies. After graduating, he spent time working at an immigration law firm as a paralegal before going to law school at Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota. During law school he participated in the Uvaldo Herrera National Moot Court Competition, and assisted in Hamline’s immigration and health law clinics. He also volunteered with the Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, and with the Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services assisting migrants working in rural Minnesota.

After graduating, he was admitted to the Minnesota Bar, and worked at a law firm handling immigration cases before going to work with the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. At the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, he provided legal representation education, and advocacy for low-income immigrants in Worthington, Minnesota.

He focuses his practice exclusively in federal immigration and nationality law. He believes that this area of law gives him the opportunity to help individuals and bring a nonprofit mentality to legal representation. His motto is “to help individuals help themselves.”