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About Us

The Consular Accountability Project is a legal defense organization fighting for accountability and oversight of the consular process. By educating and representing individuals, families and businesses through the consular process, raising public awareness of the impact of wrongful visa denials and engaging in strategic litigation, CAP will protect the rights of impacted parties, bring accountability to the consular process, correct executive abuse and protect the separation of powers.

Board of Directors

Eric

Eric Lee

President/Executive Director

Eric Lee is an immigration lawyer and federal litigator who served as lead counsel in Dep't of State v. Muñoz and argued the case before the U.S. Supreme Court in April 2024. Eric has extensive experience litigating visa denials and challenging the "doctrine of consular nonreviewability" and in 2024 the American Immigration Lawyers Association awarded Eric and the Muñoz litigation team the Jack Wasserman Memorial Award for excellence in litigation in the field of immigration law. Eric graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2015.

David

David Strashnoy

Vice President

David Strashnoy is the co-founder of the Consular Accountability Project and the Managing Attorney of David Strashnoy Law, PC.  As a former consular officer with the United States Department of State, David specializes in resolving the most difficult consular processing matters across all visa categories, typically involving cases that were previously denied at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad.  David spent nearly ten years serving with the Department of State in Latin America, Europe, Russia, and Washington, D.C., where he developed a broad immigration expertise through years of experience managing overseas consular operations and adjudicating all classes of visas.  

Jesse

Jesse Bless

Vice President

Jesse M. Bless is the founder and owner of Bless Litigation LLC.Jesse was selected for the 2004 Attorney General’s Honors Program after graduating from Wake Forest School of Law.Jesse continued working at the U.S. Department of Justice until May 2017 when he entered private practice.Jesse was chosen as the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s first Director of Federal Litigation in 2019. He has extensive trial, appellate and class action experience.
Sabrina

Sabrina Damast

Treasurer

Sabrina Damast is an attorney in Los Angeles, California, focusing on removal defense, immigration-related federal litigation, appeals, family-based immigration, humanitarian immigration and post-conviction relief.  She is an active member of several bar associations, and the long-time leader of Girl Scout Troop 10395.  In her free time, she enjoys swimming, swing dancing, and Broadway musicals.  

Christopher

Christopher Dempsey

Secretary

Christopher W. Dempsey, principal of Dempsey Law PLLC, based in Jacksonville, Florida, served with the Office of Immigration Litigation at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. for over a decade.  Mr. Dempsey is a combat-Veteran having deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.  Flowing from this experience, Mr. Dempsey volunteers assisting disabled and homeless Veterans in need through several local, national, and international non-profit organizations. 

Advisory Committee

*Affiliations listed for identification purposes

Erwin Chemerinsky
Dean, UC Berkeley School of Law

Kevin Johnson
Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law, UC Davis School of Law

Jonathan T. Weinberg
Distinguished Professor of Law, Wayne State University

Bill Ong Hing
Professor of Law and Migration Studies at the University of San Francisco and Professor of Law and Asian American Studies Emeritus at UC Davis

David Zimmer
Partner, Goodwin Procter LLP and Lecturer, Harvard Law School

Robert Chang
Executive Director of the UC Irvine School of Law's Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

Kate Goettel
Clinical Associate Professor, University of Iowa College of Law

Melissa Keaney
Senior Supervising Attorney, International Refugee Assistance Program (IRAP)

Steve Yale-Loehr
Professor of Immigration Law Practice, Cornell University

Catherine Lee
Associate Professor of Sociology, Rutgers University

Elliott Young
Professor of History, Lewis & Clark University

Tina Shull
Associate Professor and Director of Public History, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Ingrid Eagly
Professor of Law and Faculty Co-Director of the Criminal Justice Program, UCLA School of Law

H. Marissa Montes
Visiting Associate Clinical Professor and Director of Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic, Loyola Law School

Leslie Dellon
Senior Attorney, American Immigration Council

Hidetaka Hirota
Associate Professor, UC Berkeley

Christa Byker
Former US consular officer, Mexico and Guatemala

Carl Risch
Former Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs

Travis Feuerbacher
Former US consular officer, China and Mexico

Erik Finch
Former US consular officer, China

Josef Burton
Former US consular officer, Turkey

Chris Richardson
Former US consular officer, Nigeria, Nicaragua, Pakistan and Spain

Swati Patel Vasan
Former US consular officer, Honduras and India

Angelo Paparelli
Partner, U.S. Immigration, Vialto Law (US) PLLC

José Miguel Marina
Former US Consular Officer, Mexico and Colombia

How does the Consular Accountability Project function?

The Consular Accountability Project will utilize the experience and skills of our team members to educate the public about the consular process, inform visa applicants and their representatives about best practices at each stage, and in providing assistance in individual cases where possible.

Visa applicants, their families, employers and attorneys can request CAP's assistance in their case by filling out an intake form. If CAP is able to provide you with advise or legal representation, our team will follow-up with you with information about your options. 

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