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Cano Immigration, PLLC: The Houston Immigration Attorney the Mayor Tapped to Fight Human Trafficking

In 2016, the Mayor of Houston personally invited Olsa Alikaj-Cano to join the Houston Area Council Against Human Trafficking — a civic appointment that sits alongside her Texas Board of Legal Specialization certification in immigration and nationality law, a credential held by only a small percentage of the state’s immigration attorneys.

At a Glance

Origin and Background

Olsa Alikaj-Cano was born and raised in Albania and has described her own family’s experience with the immigration process as the reason she entered this specific area of law. She graduated with honors in Political Science and Linguistics from the University of Texas at El Paso, then attended the University of Houston Law Center, where she served as a student attorney in the school’s Immigration Clinic, representing clients before the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Texas State Bar records confirm her license date of November 7, 2008 (Bar Card No. 24064807). Before founding her own practice, she worked as a senior attorney leading the litigation team at Foster LLP, one of the larger immigration-focused firms in the country — institutional litigation experience she brought with her when she opened Cano Immigration, PLLC in Houston.

Practice Concentration

The firm practices immigration law exclusively, with a docket that includes removal and deportation defense, asylum and humanitarian relief, family- and employment-based petitions, and federal court litigation. See this Houston Immigration directory for how this solo, litigation-focused practice compares to other Harris County firms. State Bar of Texas records confirm the firm’s admissions extend to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Southern District of Texas — a federal court reach that goes beyond routine petition filing into active litigation when a case is denied or a client faces removal proceedings.

Track Record

As is typical for an immigration practice, the firm does not publish a table of case outcomes with dollar figures, and Awesome Attorneys did not identify one. What is independently verifiable is Cano’s 2008 Texas bar admission, her prior role leading litigation at Foster LLP, and client accounts describing successful releases from ICE detention and case outcomes achieved after other counsel had been unsuccessful.

Client Voice

Independent reviews on Avvo describe detailed, specific outcomes rather than generic praise — one reviewer credited the firm with securing release from ICE detention after prior counsel had mishandled the case, and another described the firm’s approach as personal rather than purely transactional. Awesome Attorneys did not identify a pattern of negative or unresolved reviews warranting disclosure for this firm.

Beyond the Courtroom

Alikaj-Cano’s civic record is documented and sustained rather than a single credential: her 2016 appointment by the Mayor of Houston to the Houston Area Council Against Human Trafficking, her current role as Vice-Chair of the UNICEF USA Southwest Region Board, and pro bono work with organizations including KIND (Kids in Need of Defense), CILA, and the Tahirih Justice Center, which assist unaccompanied minors and asylum-seeking women and children. She is also an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s Texas Chapter and a frequent speaker at national and international AILA conferences.

Recognition for This Houston Immigration Attorney

Alikaj-Cano holds Board Certification in Immigration and Nationality Law from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization — the credential this publication requires before using “specialist” language, confirmed independently through TBLS and reflected in her State Bar of Texas record. She has also been named a Texas Super Lawyer, a peer-review distinction the organization states is awarded to roughly 5% of attorneys statewide.

Texas Legal Backdrop

Immigration law is federally governed, so Texas attorneys in this practice area work primarily before USCIS, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (immigration courts), and federal courts rather than Texas state courts. This firm’s documented admission to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is relevant specifically because appeals from Texas immigration court decisions route through that circuit. None of this is legal advice; a specific immigration matter should be evaluated by a licensed attorney based on the actual facts involved.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Cano Immigration’s clearest, most checkable differentiator is the combination of TBLS board certification with federal appellate litigation experience carried over from a senior role at a much larger firm (Foster LLP) — a background that shows up directly in the firm’s own Fifth Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court admissions. The honest trade-off: this is a solo practice with one of-counsel attorney, not an institutional team, so clients with large-scale corporate immigration needs (the kind Houston’s bigger employment-immigration firms are built to handle) may be better served elsewhere. For an individual facing removal proceedings, an asylum claim, or a denied petition that needs litigation rather than just paperwork, the founder’s personal litigation background is a genuine, checkable differentiator.

Methodology and Sourcing

This profile was researched from Cano Immigration, PLLC’s official website (canoimmigration.com), the State Bar of Texas’s public attorney lookup (confirming license date, bar card number, and self-reported practice details), Super Lawyers’ published attorney profile, and independent client reviews on Avvo.

Publisher Disclosure and Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Cano Immigration, PLLC prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys may in the future offer sponsored placement products to attorneys and firms, including this one, but sponsorship has no bearing on the editorial content, inclusion, or findings of this profile.