Casa Cornelia Law Center

Casa Cornelia Law Center (cclc) provides free Legal Services to san diego's most vulnerable residents, indigent immigrants with legitimate claims to humanitarian-based immigration relief. We focused on three main areas in 2023 - (1) unaccompanied children, served 1,159 children either detained by immigration authorities or non-detained children identified in the community, an increase of 29% from the previous year; (2) victims of domestic violence, human trafficking, and other serious crimes, responded to 517 individuals, a 17% increase; and (3) responded to 1,137 asylum seekers who fled to the u.s. due to persecution or torture, and this number includes the 160 afghan clients. In 2023, cclc continued to provide Services despite the many challenges faced by its clients and an increase in the number of asylum seekers. In 2023, cclc responded to 2,650 individuals (almost a 20% increase from the previous year) from 77 nations speaking 56 languages. Not included in the program expenses is the significant value of volunteer Legal Services alone in the amount of 824,397 contributed or donated Services, a marked increase of 30% from the previous year.