Central America Resource Center

The Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) is a community-based organization that seeks to foster the comprehensive development of the Latino community in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region. CARECEN was founded in 1981 to protect the rights of refugees arriving from conflict in Central America and to help ease their transition by providing legal services. CARECEN provides direct services in immigration, housing and citizenship while also promoting empowerment, civil rights advocacy and civic training for Latinos. Another CARECEN is also located in Los Angeles and which was established two years after the D.C. location.

History and Mission

Established in 1981 and incorporated in 1982, the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), originally named the Central American Refugee Center, was founded to protect the rights of refugees from Central America's wars and provide direct legal services that would ease their transition to their new home.

During the 1980s and 1990s, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala suffered from civil wars, while Honduras suffered more than a decade of civil strife in the form of a dirty war.^[1] This period also saw mass migration from Central America to neighboring countries, Mexico and the United States. Prior to 1980, the United States limited its recognition of refugees and asylees to those fleeing from communist governments, while the 1951 United Nations Convention and 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees more generally accepted the definition of refugees and asylees as those fleeing their country from political oppression. The Refugee Act of 1980, signed into law by Jimmy Carter, established the definitions of asylum and refugee status in line with those of the United Nations. However, the United States was still in the midst of the Cold War, which strongly influenced public recognition of civil war and political oppression around the world. For example, 98% of Salvadoran requests for asylum were denied, while approximately the same percentage of Nicaraguans who claimed to be fleeing from a far leftist government was granted political asylum.

CARECEN in Los Angeles

CARECEN in Los Angeles is located in the Westlake, Los Angeles neighborhood in where it was founded in 1983. While it was formed independently from CARECEN-DC, it was modeled after the DC organization. The original name of the Los Angeles CARECEN was Central American Refugee Center as it addressed the needs of the arriving refugee immigrants that hoped to get asylum certification ^[2] The organization opened under its doors to the Central American community of Westlake under the leadership of Linton Joaquin as the Executive Director.^[3] In the 1980s, CARECEN focused primarily on garnering attention to the violence and human rights violation occurring in Central America, with a special focus on El Salvador. In 1984, CARECEN members went on a 15-day hunger strike to renounce the deportation of Salvadoran immigrants by the Reagan administration ^[4] The following year, CARECEN co-counseled a class action lawsuit, Orantes-Hernandez vs. Meese which disputed the INS practices towards Salvadorans and in the process discouraging them from applying for asylum.^[5][6] It was not until 1988 when CARECEN gained a victory in the lawsuit as the court issued an injunction to protect the due process rights of Salvadoran refugees and have a right to seek legal asylum.^[7] In 1991, CARECEN sent two of its staff members, along with four attorneys from Gibson, Dunn, & Crtucher law firm, to investigate the massacre at El Zapote.^[8]

Under the leadership of Roberto Lovato, a Salvadoran-American, the Central American Refugee Center officially changed its name to Central American Resource Center. This shift marked the different direction that the organization took. While still catering the needs of immigrants in Los Angeles, CARECEN adapted to the new needs of immigrants whom were permanently establishing homes in Los Angeles.^[9] Its name change came along with a reshaping and addition of community services and expansion of a focus from Salvadoran immigrants to the greater Latino community. It began to place emphasis on the legal, educational, and social services geared towards the immigrant communities. In 1994, it was among the leading organizations coming together to oppose the California Proposition 187 which barred immigrants from social services. In 1996, it joined other civil rights organizations in against California Proposition 209 which threatened affirmative action in the state.^[10] Most recently, in 2006, along with other immigrant advocacy organizations such as Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, CARECEN organized the march against the bill H.R. 4437, also known as the Sensenbrenner Bill, that would have criminalized all undocumented immigrants.^[11] CARECEN-LA continues to support the needs of the immigrant community of Los Angeles and remains expanding its services, which now include youth services & tutoring and Day labor Center, in order to meet the evolving needs of its constituents.

In the Legal Department, the center offers U visa and Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) services and Temporary protected status (TPS) renewals. It has recently begun processing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals petitions and Unaccompanied minor screening from the 2014 American immigration crisis.^[12] CARECEN also established a parent center called Centro de Padres de CARECEN "Raul G. Borbon", named after an education community activist who fought for equity and quality in the public education system of Los Angeles.^[13][14] In the parent center, it offers English classes to Spanish-speaking immigrants as well as a new addition called Plaza Comunitaria/Casa Universitaria that allows adults to continue their education by elementary and middle school curriculum.^[15][16][17] It has also established a Youth Center where it offers students from low income and immigrant families apply to college and a leadership program to get youth to know about organizing and civil engagement.^[18] CARECEN continues to be involved in the surrounding community through different actions and campaigns. The active campaigns that CARECEN is either spearheading or is involved with are TPS for Residency, Fix L.A.,^[19] and ICE out of LA among many others.^[20]

See also

• Hispanics in Washington, D.C.
• Office of Latino Affairs of the District of Columbia
• Latin American Youth Center
• Central American crisis
• Nicaraguan Revolution
• Salvadoran Civil War
• Guatemalan Revolution
• Sanctuary movement
• Contras
• Daniel Ortega
• Nicaragua v. United States
• Oscar Romero
• Liberation theology

References

External links

• Official website
• Enemies of War PBS series
• Central American Immigrants in the United States
• CARECEN - Los Angeles