Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project
Steven Shafer is an experienced attorney currently serving as the Managing Attorney at Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project since April 2018, and previously held the position of Supervising Attorney for the Released Youth Program. Prior to this, Steven was a Staff Attorney at the Immigration Center for Women and Children from September 2016 to April 2018, and served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Harry Pregerson at the United States Courts for the Ninth Circuit for one year. Early legal experience includes roles as a Summer Law Clerk at GILBERT & SACKMAN, and Bet Tzedek Legal Services. In academia, Steven contributed as a Research Associate at both Harvard Business School and Princeton University's Center for Migration and Development. Steven earned a JD from UCLA School of Law, where participation in the David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy occurred. Additional degrees include an MA in Sociology from Princeton University and a BA in Sociology from Yale University, graduating magna cum laude.
Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project
Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project, a program of Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Inc., is a non-profit law firm which provides community education and legal representation to Southern California’s most vulnerable immigrant communities. Esperanza provides legal representation to immigrants who are in detention and/or removal proceedings, and focuses on particularly complex immigration cases which may involve unaccompanied minors, adults with mental health issues, and cases with past criminal or gang history. Esperanza also provides community education programming and pro se assistance to immigrants in removal proceedings both in detained and non-detained settings. Esperanza has proudly provided legal services to immigrants and their families in Los Angeles for over 15 years.