Zaid Hatoum

Zaid is the Program Director for Global Screenings and Casework at IRAP. In this role, he provides direct legal services and representation to clients around the world in different forms of international humanitarian protection and supervises other staff. 

Before joining IRAP, for many years, Zaid worked as an Immigration & Removal Defense Attorney at HIAS Pennsylvania, where he represented clients seeking different kinds of relief from deportation before Immigration Courts. He also represented torture survivors and refugees before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in various cases, such as asylum, green cards, citizenship, family-based and refugee/asylee petitions, consular processing, temporary protected status, and other humanitarian relief.  Zaid also led the Reception and Placement team, responsible for resettling refugees in the Philadelphia area. Previously, he worked at the International Organization for Migration in Damascus, Syria, preparing refugee cases for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. 

Zaid holds a Master of Laws from Temple University, Beasley School of Law. He received a Bachelor of Laws from Damascus University and studied international law for two years in a postgraduate program. In 2013, Zaid received the International Law Award for outstanding human rights achievement from the Philadelphia Bar Association. Zaid speaks Arabic, and he is learning French.

Zaid is a member of the New York bar.