Manar Waheed

As Senior Legislative and Advocacy Counsel at the ACLU, Manar works on the intersection of issues impacting Muslims, Arabs, Iranians, Middle Easterners, and South Asians, including immigration, national security and counterterrorism, and hate violence. Manar was previously the Deputy Policy Director for Immigration at the White House Domestic Policy Council in the Obama Administration where she assisted with the development of the President’s immigration strategy and worked to protect the rights of people against discrimination, harassment, and hate attacks. She also served as Policy Director at South Asian Americans Leading Together and led their work on immigration, profiling, and hate violence. Prior to these positions, Manar provided legal representation to domestic violence survivors at Legal Services of New York City, and worked with survivors charged with crimes at the National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women. Manar received her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School and her B.A. from Wellesley College.