About Maggie
Maggie Arias built her academic foundation at the University of Florida, where she studied criminology and earned a bachelor’s degree. She went on to earn her J.D. from Stetson University College of Law in 2003. Those years set the stage for a practice that sits at the intersection of criminal and immigration issues.
After law school, Arias moved into a courtroom and agency-focused practice. She is admitted to practice in Florida and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Over time she has combined litigation, appellate work, and administrative advocacy into a steady day-to-day practice.
Arias is a partner at Arias & Pereira, PLLC. At the firm she handles matters that reach federal courts and immigration agencies as well as state-level criminal proceedings. Her caseload has included removal defense, bond litigation, petitions for citizenship and relief, and criminal defense work that can affect immigration outcomes.
Her professional affiliations reflect the dual tracks of her work. She has been a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association at the national level since 2010 and joined the South Florida Chapter in 2013. She served as Immediate Past President of the AILA South Florida Chapter for the 2020–2021 term. That role placed her in the center of local immigration practice discussions during a period of regulatory change and shifting enforcement priorities. She also holds membership in the Miami chapter of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, a connection that keeps her engaged with developments in state criminal practice.
Colleagues describe Arias as a practitioner who balances courtroom preparation with the procedural demands of immigration filings. She spends time preparing evidentiary records for hearings and appeals, and she manages the interplay of criminal procedures and immigration consequences that often define her clients’ cases.
Her office is located in the Douglas Centre, where the firm maintains its client-facing operations and case management. Outside courtrooms, she contributes to local professional programming and chapter activities, helping organize panels and trainings aimed at practitioners who handle cross-cutting immigration and criminal matters.
Arias’s background combines formal legal training, appellate admissions, and years of chapter-level leadership. She continues to practice at Arias & Pereira, PLLC, where her work centers on immigration and criminal defense matters.
