About Us
Immigrant Legal Services of the Central Coast (ILSCC) provides immigration-related legal services and information to the immigrant community of the Central Coast region of California, primarily Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Monterey Counties.
ILSCC’s mission is to increase access to legal services and understanding of the immigration law system for immigrants and their families by offering affordable legal representation, advice, and education to an otherwise underserved population, thereby increasing the overall stability and well-being of the community.
Lack of or uncertainty in immigration status can create tremendous instability and insecurity in families and communities, deprive them of access to services, and reduce their ability to function as productive members of society. Our attorneys help address this problem by providing full legal representation on an income-based sliding scale so that all members of the community can afford legal help, and by promoting community education and collaborating with other service providers.
ARIADNA RENTERIA TORRES
IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY/ EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Ariadna has worked in immigration law for more than two decades. She received legal education in Mexico and the United States. Ariadna worked as senior staff attorney at the Immigration Law Unit of the Legal Aid Society in New York City for over ten years.
In Mexico, she coordinated the project “Migration Reform in Mexico: Documentation, Litigation, Policy and Legislative Reform,” a joint initiative of Sin Fronteras and the Open Society Justice Initiative of the Soros Foundation. She also worked as a consultant on the Migration, Human Smuggling and Human Rights Project for the International Council on Human Rights Policy of Geneva, Switzerland.
In 2009 Ariadna joined the Watsonville Law Center in Watsonville, California as an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow to assist in the Center’s objective to provide pro bono legal services to a low-income and predominately monolingual Spanish-speaking agricultural and service worker population.
Most recently, from 2010 until creating ILSCC in 2017, she operated a private immigration law practice in Watsonville, California. She is licensed to practice law by the New York State Bar.
ROSA SANCHEZ DURAN
DOJ ACCREDITED REPRESENTATIVE
Rosa immigrated to Watsonville, CA from her native Oaxaca, Mexico when she was 12 years old and has gone on to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Latin American and Latino Studies from the University of California in Santa Cruz (UCSC). In reflection upon her own experiences as an immigrant, Rosa feels called to serve the Central Coast community’s acute need for access to quality legal representation. Rosa sought to answer that call by joining Immigrant Legal Services of the Central Coast as an Administrative Assistant in her senior year at UCSC. Since then, Rosa has continued to develop her talents as a legal caseworker; She now serves as DOJ Accredited Representative and Office Manager and contributes her valuable acumen to the shaping of ILSCC as a critical community aid. Motivated by her experiences as both an immigrant and a provider of immigrant legal services, Rosa intends to earn her Juris Doctor and continue to feed her passion for the Public Interest as a legal professional.
VANESSA BUENROSTRO
PARALEGAL / ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Vanessa is originally from Jalisco, Mexico. After completed her Law Degree at the University of Guadalajara, she emigrated to the United States to continue her professional career. In love with this area, she settled in California.
At ILSCC, she found the opportunity to learn, expand and apply her professional skills. She is passionate in helping people who come to this country in search of better opportunities.
She serves at ILSCC as the first line of contact for
all the people who walk through our doors.