We’re a unique collaboration of 16 San Francisco-based legal service organizations with diverse areas of expertise and different social support programs. Twelve of the organizations provide direct-services representation to our clients. Two of the organizations provide technical assistance, and one organization provides the legal lead and coordination services. We combine our strengths to advocate for this vulnerable population. We are funded by the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development.
African Advocacy Network (AAN) provides immigration legal services, case management, and social integration services based on a unique Cultural Brokering model. AAN couples these programs with experienced and trained linguistic capacity in more than ten languages that span the African continent including Amharic, Arabic, Berber, Dioula, Effutu, French, Haitian Creole, Kru, Senya, Sonufu, Spanish, Tigrinya, Wolof, and more. Driven by its desire to serve vulnerable refugees and immigrants, AAN acts in collaboration with community partners, individuals, faith-based groups, and advocates in order to amplify its impact, ensure the equity of all voices, and to sustain its mission. The African Advocacy Network is a certified 501 (c) (3) community based non-profit organization and it is recognized by the Office of Legal Access Program (OLAP), the Executive Office of Immigration Review, and the U.S. Department of Justice to provide immigration legal services.
API Legal Outreach (APILO) is the largest social justice legal organization focused on the Asian/Pacific Islander, Latinx, and immigrant communities of the Greater Bay Area and the Central Valley. A community based organization founded in 1975, our mission is to provide culturally competent and linguistically appropriate direct services to the most marginalized segments of our community including low-income women, seniors, immigrants, and youth. Our work is focused in the areas of gender based violence, immigration and immigrants’ rights, disability rights, senior law and elder abuse, anti-human trafficking, youth violence prevention, anti API hate violence, the preservation of affordable housing and small businesses, and other social justice issues. APILO is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.
Asian Law Caucus (ALC) was founded in 1972, the nation’s first legal and civil rights organization serving low-income, immigrant, and underserved Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. We bring together legal services, community empowerment, and policy advocacy to fight for immigrant justice, economic security, and a stronger democracy. Our Immigrant Rights Program provides a variety of direct legal services with a focus on representing detained immigrants and refugees facing deportation due to criminal convictions. Our other program areas include Workers’ Rights, Housing Rights, Community Safety, National Security & Civil Rights, and Voting Rights.
The Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) defends the human rights of courageous refugees seeking asylum in the United States. With strategic focus and unparalleled legal expertise, CGRS champions the most challenging cases, fights for due process, and promotes policies that deliver safety and justice for refugees.
The Central American Resource Center (CARECEN SF) empowers and responds to the needs, rights, and aspirations of Latino, immigrant, and under-resourced families in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our Immigration Legal Program provides low-cost and pro-bono immigration legal services. The Second Chance Youth Program empowers youth with self-awareness, skills, and resources, and operates the only free community-based Tattoo Removal Clinic in San Francisco. Our Family Wellness Program connects children and families to vital social services and local resources and the Health Promotion Program encourages healthy eating and active living while exploring how culture and tradition improve community health. Rooted in its cultural strengths and born of the Central American justice struggles, CARECEN SF envisions our diverse immigrant community as thriving – where families prosper, build effective community institutions, and participate confidently in civic life. Community Power Is Our Strength! ¡En Comunidad Somos Más Fuertes!
The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) seeks to improve immigration law and policy, expand the capacity of legal service providers, and advance immigrant rights. The ILRC trains attorneys, paralegals, and community-based advocates who work with immigrants around the country. We inform the media, elected officials, and the public to shape effective and just immigration policy and law. Our staff works with grassroots immigrant organizations to promote civic engagement and social change.
The Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic of the University of San Francisco provides full-service pro bono removal defense to individuals and families who are in removal proceedings, including unaccompanied immigrant children. Most of the children the clinic represents are also eligible for Special Immigrant Juvenile status and the clinic represents these children in state court all over the state of California. In addition to their staff of attorneys and paralegals, the Clinic also trains law students to become both knowledgeable and ethical removal defense attorneys with an emphasis on asylum law.
The Immigration Center for Women and Children (ICWC) is a non-profit legal organization providing free and affordable immigration services to underrepresented immigrants since 2004. ICWC strives to provide security and stability for children who are abused, abandoned, or neglected and for immigrants who are survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other violent crimes. ICWC has offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas.
The Justice & Diversity Center (JDC) is one of the largest and most distinguished legal services providers in San Francisco. We mobilize the pro bono power of our legal community and provide free legal services to low-income San Franciscans and nonprofit organizations that serve them. Our work is focused through four program areas: Pro Bono Legal Services, the Homeless Advocacy Project, Diversity Educational Programs, and Immigrant Legal Defense Programs. JDC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and we have been serving the San Francisco community since 1977.
Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) is an international nongovernmental organization devoted to the protection of unaccompanied and separated children. KIND envisions a world in which every unaccompanied child on the move has access to legal representation and has their rights and well-being protected as they migrate alone in search of safety. As part of SFILDC, KIND provides free direct legal representation, pro bono mentoring, and social service support for unaccompanied children in San Francisco facing removal.
La Raza Centro Legal San Francisco (LRCL) through its Immigration Law Program provides consultations and legal representation to low-income, immigrant, and Spanish-speaking residents of San Francisco and San Mateo counties in applications for adjustment of status, citizenship, DACA renewals, family petitions, U visas, SIJS, asylum, and more. LRCL’s Asylum and Deportation Defense Program provides legal consultations and representation for children, adults, and families residing in the San Francisco community before the San Francisco Immigration Court, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the San Francisco Asylum Office. The mission of LRCL is to be a trusted partner in legal services in Northern California.
La Raza Community Resource Center (LRCRC) is a bilingual, multi-service, non-profit organization dedicated to meeting the social service, immigration, educational, and leadership development needs of low-income families and individuals. Our mission is to serve as a bridge between San Francisco and Spanish speaking immigrant families with direct support and advocacy to ensure Latino and Indigenous immigrant communities can access resources, realize their power, and thrive. La Raza’s legal team offers free services in a safe, confidential, bilingual space. Every year La Raza CRC helps hundreds of clients achieve their immigration goals. We reunify families by guiding them through the complexities of the immigration process. We fight deportation and defend immigrants in court, helping them win asylum and Permanent Residence. We keep the community informed of its legal rights and help our clients unlock the benefits of employment authorization, Permanent Residence, and U.S. citizenship.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (LCCRSF) is the leading civil rights organization on the West Coast that works on groundbreaking impact litigation and provides direct services to low-income communities of color. Now over 40 years old, the LCCRSF Asylum Program matches asylum seekers with private bar and staff attorneys who provide pro bono representation before the San Francisco Immigration Court and USCIS. Asylum Program staff provide individualized mentorship and resources to all private pro bono counsel who represent asylum seekers through the Asylum Program. LCCRSF’s Immigrant Justice team also presents an annual Asylum Seminar that provides a valuable opportunity for immigration law practitioners, pro bono attorneys, and its partners at non-profit organizations throughout the Bay Area.
Legal Services for Children (LSC) provides free representation to children and youth who require legal assistance to stabilize their lives and realize their full potential. Through a holistic team approach utilizing legal advocacy and social work services, our goal is to empower clients and actively involve them in the critical decisions that impact their lives. LSC uses this model to achieve safety and stability at home; educational success; and freedom from detention and deportation for our clients.
Mission Action is a multi-issue, multi-strategy organization, which both improves people’s lives on an individual level as well as affects broader social change by engaging in advocacy and community organizing efforts to address the root causes of suffering and injustice. Our vision is of a just and sustainable community where all residents – regardless of race, income, immigration, or health status – have equal rights and access to resources and are empowered to fully participate in shaping the City’s future. Mission Action engages in advocacy and services across areas such as housing and shelter services, workers’ rights, wellness and food assistance, and immigrants’ rights and deportation defense.
Pangea Legal Services was one of the first organizations in the Bay Area to provide free and low-fee full-scope removal defense representation to immigrants, in both detained and non-detained immigration court proceedings. Pangea represents immigrants in bond proceedings, removal hearings, before the Board of Immigration Appeals, at the circuit court level, and in encounters with ICE and asylum officials. Since 2013,Pangea has complemented its legal services with community empowerment, community education, and policy advocacy. Pangea’s work has always been cutting edge. It was one of the first organizations to provide habeas representation in federal district court. It was one of the first organizations to litigate a habeas on behalf of a disabled immigrant under the Rehabilitation Act. Pangea strives for systematic change and collaborations. Pangea and Dolores Street Community Services designed and launched the Asylee Legal Empowerment Project (“ALEP”), a program providing legal and wraparound support to pro se asylum seekers through a cohort based learning model. Pangea is BIPOC and immigrant led and it has a flat leadership structure. Languages spoken by Pangea’s staff include Spanish, French, Portuguese, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu.