Mariale Bolanos Leal

Mariale Bolanos Leal is the Central American Minors Refugee and Parole Program Paralegal at HIAS Pennsylvania. In her current role she provides assistance to reunite eligible Central American families in the United States.

Mariale was born and raised in Costa Rica and moved to the United States in the summer of 2020. She graduated from the University of Costa Rica in 2019, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in Law. Right now she is writing a dissertation to obtain a license in law from the University of Costa Rica. Her dissertation is about taxation as a tool to reduce the consumption of single-use plastics. She is interested in Human Rights Law and Environmental Law. Mariale hopes to one day become a lawyer in the United States.

Mariale loves to learn about cultures and languages. She speaks Spanish, English, French, and Mandarin. She learned Chinese and French by living in each country for 11 and 8 months respectively.

In her free time she likes to rock climb and spend time with her family and friends.