Rricha deCant

Rricha deCant is the Senior Director of Policy and Climate.  In this role, she leads a team to develop and advocate for policies that help refugees, Afghans, asylees, and climate displaced populations at the state and local level, federally and coordinating IRAP’s global policy work. 

Most recently, Rricha was the Legislative Director at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) advocating for public benefit programs, child care, immigrants, labor, and education policies.  

Prior to CLASP, Rricha worked on both the House and Senate side of Capitol Hill. She served as Immigration Counsel for Senator Alex Padilla where she helped lead the work of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship and Border Safety.  Rricha also was Legislative Counsel to Congresswoman Judy Chu, on immigration, labor, and social welfare programs. She led the introduction and passage in the House of the NO BAN Act in the 119th Congress and worked on numerous other immigration bills related to the public charge rule, family reunification, closing child detention centers, and protecting immigrant workers. 

Rricha previously also worked at First Focus, where she engaged in legislative and administrative advocacy as well as state technical assistance, focusing on child welfare and children of immigrants policies. Rricha has a B.A. in International Relations from the University of California, Davis and a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.