Zaid Hydari has over a decade of experience at the intersection of immigration, international relations, foreign affairs, and humanitarian assistance. Zaid is a first-generation American with a lifelong commitment to public service. His experience ranges from founding and running an international NGO, teaching law, and providing professional legal services to businesses and individuals of various nationalities.

He holds a B.A. from University Texas at Austin and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. Zaid founded and ran the US-based non-profit Refugee Solidarity Network (RSN), a non-profit organization that has worked with major donors, including the US Department of State, to ensure that immigration systems, namely family-based and humanitarian channels, remain available in some of the world’s most important migration contexts. With RSN Zaid has led the organization to support legal services for over 10,000 persons, free of charge, in a number of key host countries, namely Turkiye and Pakistan, while contributing to strategic litigation and advocacy before UN bodies and the European Court of Human Rights.. 

Zaid is an adjunct professor at Fordham University School of Law, where he has taught Immigration Law and International Refugee Law & Policy.   

Zaid understands the critical role that legal assistance plays for individuals navigating complex procedures and is deeply committed to ensuring access to legal counsel for all. He is admitted to practice in New York State and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). He has published works in various journals and media including the Washington Post, Huffington Post, Foreign Policy in Focus and has spoken at the UNHCR’s Executive Committee, European Parliament, and the Mexican Senate.

Dr. Marciana Popescu is a Professor at Fordham University, Graduate School of Social Service (GSS). In February 2025, she graduated Fordham Law School, with a concentration in International Comparative and Foreign Law/International Law and Justice.

Throughout her academic career, Dr. Popescu’s research and teaching were centered on human rights/women’s rights, humanitarian assistance, forced migration, and international development. Between 2014-2015, she conducted a rapid assessment of two displacement camps in Anse-A-Pite (Haiti) following the changes in naturalization/citizenship rights in the Dominican Republic, and the resulting forced displacement of the Haitian population. In 2016-2017, Dr. Popescu was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Austria, exploring migration policies within the EU space, and their impact on women asylum seekers or refugees. Between 2018-2023, Dr. Popescu was a Fulbright Specialist on migration policy.

Dr. Popescu is a member of the UN-NGO Committee on Migration since 2018, working on global and local migration policies. Her research focuses on forced migration and gender, forced migration and health/mental health, and violence against women; as well as community capacity building and human rights/women’s rights. She is also the director of Her Migrant Hub project together with Dr. Alonzo, a community-based initiative focusing on increasing access and utilization of health and mental health care services for women asylum seekers in NYC.

Dr. Popescu is fully admitted to the NY State bar.

Harun Ahmed is an experienced attorney with over seventeen years of government experience across the U.S. immigration system. A Houston native and dedicated public servant, he has built his career around federal immigration policy, humanitarian protection, and safeguarding the rights of individuals navigating immigration processes.

His service at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security includes roles in adjudication, oversight, litigation, and policy development. Harun has worked as an immigration officer, trainer, supervisor, and agency counsel. Most recently, as an attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel at USCIS, he helped shape key immigration regulations and legislation, advised senior leadership, served as counsel on high-profile litigation, and provided legal review for agency operations. His litigation portfolio includes high-stakes habeas, mandamus, programmatic challenges, and class-action matters.

At Gray Whale Law, Harun provides expert guidance on visa issuance, admission and border entry, asylum, parole and humanitarian pathways to immigration. He also advises on business immigration, including foreign direct investment through the EB-5 program and related initiatives as well as other professional nonimmigrant and immigrant visas.

Harun holds a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center and a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. His work reflects a longstanding commitment to fairness, access to justice, and the protection of vulnerable individuals.

Kevin serves as an Independent Analyst for Gray Whale Law. With a multidisciplinary background including a Master’s degree in Social Sciences and a B.A. in languages, he brings an extensive track record of research and quantitative and qualitative data analysis skills to the firm, enabling deep insights into immigration trends and directions.