About La Raza Centro Legal (LRCL)
La Raza Centro Legal (LRCL) is a multicultural community social justice center based in the Mission District of San Francisco. Born out of the civil rights and Chicano movements of the 1960’s and 1970’s, Centro Legal was founded in 1973 by Latino law students to fill a gap in the availability of economically and culturally accessible legal services for the Bay Area’s Latino population. In its early years, the agency developed an immigration law practice to meet community needs and provided legal defense in some of the important political cases of the time. We later added a tenants’ rights project and a lawyer referral service in collaboration with a growing community of Latino lawyers. Since our founding, we have established a reputation of credibility in the community: as a source of trustworthy legal advice and referrals, as a place where clients will be treated with dignity and respect and where they will find advocates willing to fight for them and with them.
Immigration Law continues to be a primary focus of our work. The Workers’ Rights Program was created in 1991 and the Senior Law program began in 1998. All of these programs together constitute a vital part of our work through the present date.
Highlighted Services
As a part of SFILEN, La Raza Centro Legal provides comprehensive immigration legal services including asylum, Unaccompanied Minor Removal Defense, DACA, pre-DAPA, consular processing, family petitions, renewal of Lawful Permanent Residency, citizenship, preparation for citizenship interviews, TPS renewals, employment authorization document applications and renewals, VAWA applications, T and U visas, motions for Change of Venue, among other immigration applications and relief.
Pilar Eslava
Pilar Eslava obtained her J.D. Law Degree at CEU University San Pablo in Madrid, Spain. After graduating, she worked for two years representing clients in civil court trials (breach of contract cases, family law cases and labor law). Pilar’s dedication for the Hispanic community started when she immigrated to the United States and worked at the San Francisco Univision TV station. As part of the local marketing and sales team, she participated in numerous community events and acquired in depth knowledge of the Hispanic immigrant population. Her interest in advocacy and immigrant rights, led her to transition her career into the practice of immigration law. She received her Master of Laws at UC Berkeley School of Law, Boalt Hall, in 2013. Before coming to LRCL, she worked on a contract basis at a private law firm, handling a wide range of immigration applications. She came to LRCL as an Immigration Contract Attorney in August of 2015. She currently manages a diverse caseload, including DACA applications, U visas, Family petitions, Adjustment of Status applications, naturalization, consular processing and provisional waivers. She is admitted to the California State Bar.