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Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) of California

  • Location:
    2845 W. 7th St
    Los Angeles, CA 90005
  • Phone:
    (213) 385-7800 Ext. 136
  • Fax:
    (213) 385-1094
  • Contact methods:
    Drop-in, Website
  • Appointments accepted:
    No

Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) empowers Central Americans by defending human and civil rights, working for social and economic justice, and promoting cultural diversity. The CARECEN Legal Department offers a wide range of immigration legal services. Most services are provided after legal consultation. 

 

CARECEN has three offices—Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley, and San Bernardino. 

Counties served: Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura
Detention Facilities Served: Adelanto Detention Center (CA)

Services Provided

Are immigration legal services provided? Yes
Areas of immigration legal assistance: Adjustment of Status, Asylum applications, Consular Processing, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), Employment authorization, Family-based petitions, NACARA, Naturalization/Citizenship, Removal hearings, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, T visas, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), U visas, Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) petitions
Types of immigration legal services provided: Help completing forms, Filings with USCIS, Representation at Asylum Interviews (Credible Fear Interviews, Reasonable Fear Interviews), Representation before the Immigration Court, Representation before the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)
Non-legal services: Citizenship / Civics classes
Populations served: Detained individuals, Domestic Violence Victims, Human Trafficking Survivors, Individuals who are not in legal immigration status, Individuals with criminal histories, Individuals with physical/mental disabilities, Juveniles, Lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender, Torture survivors
Languages spoken: English, Spanish
Access to a commercial interpreting service or language bank: No
Nominal fee charged? No
Other information: Legal Consultations are provided on a walk-in basis at our central Los Angeles location every Wednesday from 9am-4pm. Space is limited, first-come first served. CARECEN also provides legal consultations/services, by appointment, at various family resource centers and libraries in the city of Los Angeles. CARECEN provides free advice to victims of notario/immigration consultant fraud. Information about this pervasive problem may be found in Spanish on our website. CARECEN will only provide legal consultation in person (no phone or email legal consultation). CARECEN will arrange interpreting services only for Maya/indigenous language speakers.CARECEN will be providing services at the Adelanto Detention Facility in limited capacity. CARECEN will identify the eligible detainees and will not accept outside requests for representation of detainees in Adelanto.This office also provides: Citizenship Instruction, Parent, Youth and Day Laborer organizing, leadership training and resources, College Application assistance, After-school and summer educational programs

Staffing Information

Number of attorneys on staff: 35
Is organization BIA recognized? Yes
Number of fully accredited BIA representatives on staff: 1
Number of partially accredited BIA representatives on staff: 9
Number of paralegals/legal workers on staff: 46

Additional Details

Pro Bono opportunities? No
Network affiliations: American Immigration Lawyers Association, Asista, Central American Resource Center, Immigration Advocates Network, New Americans Collaborative (NAC), National Alliance of Latin American & Caribbean Communities (NALACC), Salvadoran American National Network (SANN), California Table for Immigration Reform

Volunteering

Volunteer Coordinator
Jennifer Marin Esquivel
(213) 385-7800 Ext. 181
Other Information For more information about volunteering at CARECEN, visit: http://www.carecen-la.org/volunteer