CARECEN NY- Central American Refugee Center

CARECEN empowers immigrant communities on Long Island through legal services, community education, and advocacy. CARECEN, an immigrant legal services organization, promotes social justice and legal rights for all immigrants through legal representation, advocacy, education, and community organizing. Since 1983, CARECEN has fought against exploitation and discriminatory treatment of all immigrants under the laws of the United States. Although CARECEN assists immigrants from more than 70 countries, approximately 95% of CARECEN clients and students are from Latin America, with approximately 70% of them coming from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, often fleeing their home countries to escape violence, gangs, political corruption, extreme poverty and persecution. Utilizing its extensive experience and in cooperation with its community partners, CARECEN provides a wide array of free or low-cost services to Long Island’s immigrant community, including citizenship application assistance, legal representation for unaccompanied children and their families, citizenship preparation, and adult English language and literacy classes.