LIBRE serves San Mateo County immigrant communities.  Many immigrants do not apply for government benefits because they think receiving benefits will affect their immigration options, or expose their family to negative consequences.  LIBRE aims to educate our immigrant community about the different safety net services available, link them to specific agencies in their communities that can assist them with the enrollment process, and provide accurate information concerning their immigration options.   LIBRE also provides limited immigration representation and assistance, including consultations and assistance with VAWA, U VISA, and SIJS for teen parents and their families and other vulnerable immigrants.

LIBRE is a collaborative project comprised of trusted community partners including the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County, Redwood City 2020, Nuestra Casa, Coastside Hope, the Redwood City Community Schools, and the San Mateo County Human Services Agency. We work with three assistor locations - JobTrain in Menlo Park, Coastside Hope in El Granada and the Fair Oaks Community Center in Redwood City - to provide holistic client services.  LIBRE provides legal advice and representation related to:

• Medi-Cal

• CalFresh (food stamps)

• CalWORKs

• Social Security/SSI/CAPI

• U Visa (immigration relief for crime survivors)

• VAWA (Violence Against Women Act)

• SIJS (immigration relief for minor survivors of parental abuse, neglect, or abandonment)

• Certain other immigration cases

You can arrange to meet with a LIBRE attorney by calling 650-517-8936 to schedule an appointment.

If you need help applying for Public Benefits you can go to one of our Assistors Locations:

Teen Parents Immigration Aid

Legal Aid’s Teen Parents’ Project provides confidential answers to teen parents’ questions as well as legal representation and advice, and teens are welcome to call just to ask questions. We help abused teens apply for immigration relief such as U Visas for themselves and their families, Special Immigration Juvenile Status (SIJS), Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).  Legal Aid keeps all information confidential – which means that we will not tell anyone what our teen clients tell us unless they give us permission or tell us they are planning to commit a serious crime that could hurt someone else.

LIBRE Project Updates

What is Public Charge?

Unsure about the new Public Charge rules and how they may affect you? Get information about public charge and immigration.

Public Charge Updates

December 27, 2022 Update:
The new U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS/Immigration) public charge regulations are in effect as of December 23, 2022. The regulations confirm that health care, food assistance and housing programs are not counted in a public charge test. The public charge test mainly affects immigrants who are applying for a green card through a family-based petition. The public charge test does not count benefits for family members, including dependents.

Actualización del 27 de diciembre de 2022:
Las nuevas regulaciones de carga pública de los Servicios de Ciudadanía e Inmigración de EE. UU. Las regulaciones confirman que los programas de atención médica, asistencia alimentaria y vivienda no se cuentan en una prueba de carga pública. La prueba de carga pública afecta principalmente a los inmigrantes que solicitan una tarjeta verde a través de una petición basada en la familia. La prueba de carga pública no cuenta los beneficios para los miembros de la familia, incluidos los dependientes.

LIBRE Partners

Coastside Hope
(650) 726-9071
www.coastsidehope.org
Core Service Center serving El Granada, Half Moon Bay, Miramar, Montara, & Moss Beach

Nuestra Casa
(650) 330-7482
www.nuestracasa.org
Community education organization dedicated to increasing civic participation and promoting economic self-sustainability of the Latino immigrant population of East Palo Alto and the area served by the Ravenswood City School District.

Redwood City Together
(650) 423-2207
www.rwc2020.org
A collaboration involving 8 public and nonprofit organizations that serve children, youth and families that live in Redwood City and unincorporated North Fair Oaks.

San Mateo Human Services Agency
(650) 802-7500
www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/porta/site/humanservices

You can read more about LIBRE at the program's website: www.thelibreproject.org or by calling (650) 517-8936.

Legal Aid would like to thank the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, San Mateo County Health Care for the Homeless/Farmworker Health Program of the San Mateo County Medical Center, the Heising-Simons Foundation, Kaiser Permanente Northern California Community Benefit Program, the Grove Foundation, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, AT&T, and individual donors for their funding support of LIBRE.