Rricha Mathur deCant Joins Calif. Sen. Alex Padilla’s Office as Legislative Counsel
- In her role, the Indian American will focus on immigration and homeland security policy.
Rricha Mathur deCant is joining Sen. Alex Padilla’s (D-Calif.) office as counsel, focusing on immigration and homeland security policy. She previously was legislative counsel to Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.).
Prior to working with Rep. Chu, Mathur deCant was the Senior Policy Advisor, Child Welfare and Child Rights for First Focus and the assistant director for the State Policy Advocacy and Reform Center. In that role she worked on childcare welfare issues and managed the State Policy and Advocacy Reform Center. She also worked on childhood asthma, child trafficking, right to counsel for children and children of immigrants issues, as per her LinkedIn profile.
Before that she interned at the National Alliance to End Homelessness and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty working specifically on alleviating youth homelessness, enforcing provisions of the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act, and organizing information on constructive alternatives to criminalizing homeless.
She also interned as a Law Clerk for Legal Services Corporation working on regulatory analysis and other general counsel duties. In addition, she provided direct legal representation to low-income individuals in child custody cases and unemployment compensation hearings, and continues to volunteer in legal clinics in the D.C. Area.
She holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of California-Davis, and a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.