About Us

ESPAÑOL|FRANÇAIS

Our History:

RAICES (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal
Services) was founded and incorporated in 1986 under the name of the Refugee
Aid Project. During this time, Central Americans flooded into San Antonio after
fleeing the civil wars and social upheavals of El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala
and Nicaragua. Several churches and religious orders answered the needs of
the new arrivals by providing food, clothing, Christmas toys, language classes,
housing, medical and legal referrals. The agency provided a forum for San
Antonians to meet the new arrivals and learn first hand about the situation in
Central America.

RAICES’ first office opened in the Madison Square Presbyterian Church. After
the Oblates of Mary Immaculate donated a building, the agency moved to its
current location at 1305 North Flores. This building has also provided a home
to other community-centered organizations such as the Esperanza Peace and
Justice Center, Fuerza Unida, Latin American Solidarity, the Quakers, and a
Spanish-Speaking Chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous.

RAICES received funding for its first attorney in 1990 and has operated as an
independent non-profit legal services provider ever since. With the extension of
special immigration benefits to Central Americans, such as Temporary Protected
Status (TPS) and ABC relief, individuals coming from Central America were
becoming more self-sufficient and no longer needed most of the social services
that the agency provided. The focus of the agency turned to assisting other
vulnerable members of the immigrant community, such as asylum seekers,
unaccompanied minors, immigration detainees, and survivors of violence. The
agency also assisted low-income immigrants in filing family-based petitions. In
1999, the Refugee Aid Project changed its name to Refugee and Immigration
Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), in order to reflect
the expansion of services the agency offered at this time. In 2004, RAICES
welcomed a second attorney to the staff.

In 2008, RAICES enlarged its office in order to keep pace with its growing
staff and programs. Located five minutes from the San Antonio Immigration
Court and in the heart of the city’s historic Five Points neighborhood,
RAICES continues to provide counsel and representation in a full range
of defenses against deportation before the Immigration Court, as well as
representation before United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
in family-based immigration cases, visas and other affirmative applications.

In its third decade, RAICES has a dedicated team of attorneys, accredited
representatives, and legal assistants, in addition to volunteers, student interns
and partnering pro bono attorneys.