Central American Legal Assistance (CALA) provides free or low-cost legal services to New York's immigrant community. Our mission is to protect and defend Central and South American asylum-seekers and to expand the civil rights of all immigrants. CALA has had an open door to newly-arrived immigrants since 1985. CALA's staff are all bi-lingual. Based in a Brooklyn church, CALA offers immigrants a home base for advice or counseling as well as legal representation. We have put thousands of Latino immigrants on the road to citizenship.