CASA de Maryland
CASA is a Latino and immigration advocacy-and-assistance organization based in Maryland. It is active throughout the state, but has major foci in Prince George's County, Montgomery County and Baltimore. CASA influences Maryland politics on a wide range of policies, ranging from law-enforcement to education. It also has offices in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.
History
CASA was originally known as the "Central American Solidarity Association of Maryland". The organization's name was officially changed to CASA of Maryland, Inc., on July 28, 1995. The organization's name was officially changed to CASA de Maryland, Inc., on September 4, 2008. Now, the organization is named CASA.CASA was founded in 1985 in the basement of the Takoma Park Presbyterian Church by US citizens and Central American immigrants. It has since expanded its scope.
It is affiliate organization of the National Council of La Raza.
They are a member of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.
CASA is also a founding member of the National Capital Immigration Coalition, which promotes "comprehensive immigration reform".
In June 2010, CASA opened a multicultural center in the heart of Langley Park and located in the former Langley Park mansion.
The project was budgeted at $31 million in 2007. Governor Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, said at the fundraising kickoff for the project, "In our Maryland, there's no such thing as a spare American".
Activity
CASA offers health assistance, medical interpretations, English classes, financial literacy classes, vocational training, social services, leadership development, legal services, and employment placement for low-income families, particularly Latino immigrants and other immigrants. CASA provides legal support to the large and growing community of immigrants—documented or otherwise—in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. They have successfully promoted a wide range of legislation in support of the immigrant community, including a Maryland law that requires reasonable access to government services for people with limited English proficiency.CASA is very aggressive in pursuing absconding employers, contractors who do not pay their day-laborers.
CASA is also involved in housing law and advocacy. In 2004, CASA attorney Kimberley A. Propeack told the Daily Record that the group's housing attorney represents immigrants who are targeted by landlords if they raise concerns or try to form residents' associations.
CASA has rescued a number of victims of domestic slavery, also known as human trafficking.
Currently, CASA is one of the leading plaintiffs in the pending Supreme Court case Trump v. CASA. The case is suing the Trump administration on their attempt to end birthright citizenship. CASA is representing a group of a five pregnant women in the case.
Day labor centers
CASA operates five day labor centers throughout the state of Maryland, with public and private funding; three centers are in Montgomery County. These centers, run by CASA on behalf of the county government under contract, provide central sites where contractors can pick up day-laborers. The centers have sparked protests and counter-protests.The center near Shady Grove was damaged by a fire within its first month of operation; the fire was ruled to be arson and classified a "hate incident" by county police.
The centers allow day laborers to seek work without violating Gaithersburg's anti-solicitation ordinance, a law that makes it a misdemeanor to conduct hires in public places.
Most of the opposition centers around the assumption that many of the day-laborers in Montgomery County are undocumented workers, mostly from Central America.
CASA opened an employment center in Baltimore on December 20, 2007. The center is funded by foundations and Community Development Block Grant funds; renovation of the building housing the center was funded by the City of Baltimore and an anonymous donor. According to Maryland Secretary of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, Thomas Perez, "Labor centers are the most cost-effective investment of government money I can imagine... We're providing employment, addressing public safety by creating an orderly process, keeping people from street corners and protecting workers." The opening was applauded by local labor groups, immigrant advocates, and city leaders. Local residents had been pushing for an alternative to street-corner hiring.
CASA advocates for citizenship for.
Funding
As of FY 2022, CASA received $13 million in contributions & grants; $12 million in program service revenue; and $81,000 in investment income. $11 million of the program service revenue was from government contracts.Historically, CASA has received funding from a variety of sources, including a two-year grant funding operations in Baltimore from George Soros' Open Society Institute in 2001.
In 2008, CASA received $1.5 million from CITGO, the state-owned Venezuelan petroleum products corporation, to fund educational, training, and economic-development programs.
Deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia
CASA has been deeply involved in advocating for Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s return to the US. Kilmar is a member of CASA. Kilmar was removed from the US to El Salvador where he was placed in a prison despite never having been charged or convicted of any crime in either the US or El Salvador. The US government has stated that Kilmar is a high ranking member of the Salvadoran MS-13 gang.Kilmar had been granted a withholding of removal specifically prohibiting his removal to his home country El Salvador due to the high likelihood that he would be in danger there. Kilmar's wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, sued the US government to obtain Kilmar's return. On June 6, 2025, the Trump administration brought Abrego Garcia back to the US, and the DOJ announced that he had been indicted in Tennessee for "conspiracy to unlawfully transport illegal aliens for financial gain" and "unlawful transportation of illegal aliens for financial gain."
The organization has mobilized community support, organized rallies, launched petitions, and facilitated meetings between Garcia’s family and lawmakers. CASA’s legal team has also played a direct role in the litigation, with one of its advocates serving as co-counsel for Kilmar’s wife. The group has worked to amplify the voices of Garcia’s family, to try and keep his case in the public eye despite government resistance.
Criticism
CASA works on many issues of concern to the immigrant community in Maryland, and as a result, CASA has been a source of controversy. Most of the controversy centers around allegations that the day-labor centers administrated by the group are primarily used by undocumented immigrants, who may not legally be employed in any capacity in the US.Montgomery County day-labor center
Montgomery County's award of contracts to develop day-labor centers near Gaithersburg to CASA ignited some controversy, including a case of arson.The site, located outside both Gaithersburg and Rockville, was a service park behind a Department of Liquor Control warehouse, and was opened as a temporary location. Because of the site's location, the county had sole control over the site approval process; although the county Planning Board had to undertake a mandatory referral process, the planning rules allowed County Executive Isiah Leggett to make the ultimate decision.
The site stirred worry in nearby Derwood and other communities. Some residents expressed concerns about the proposal.
In a letter to The Gazette, Brad Botwin announced that he was forming a group called Help Save Maryland because of "growing abuses of official power", specifically the day-labor center near Shady Grove. Botwin characterized the center as "a taxpayer-funded illegal worker pickup center on property slated for job-creating high-tech companies and a needed fire station."
Botwin, a member of the Shady Grove Advisory Committee and former co-president of the Greater Shady Grove Civic Alliance, was concerned over the center's impact on the sector plan implementation process. He said that the plan required extensive committee meetings and approvals, but Leggett did not use such processes in siting the center.
Pat Labuda, president of the Greater Shady Grove Civic Alliance and also a member of the Shady Grove Advisory Committee, said "I think it's a problem that what Rockville and Gaithersburg don't want, Derwood gets". Like Botwin, Labuda was concerned about the center's impact on the sector plan. While Labuda supported the need for the facility, she expressed the wish that the county had discussed it with residents before choosing the site.
A Gaithersburg resident task force that had studied the day-laborer situation supported the proposal. Cathy Drzyzgula, a member of that task force, called the proposal "a middle path, since it pleases neither extreme, but instead the larger share of people who hold moderate views on the issue" in a letter to The Gazette.
Rights pamphlet
In 2007, in response to local immigration raids, CASA published a pamphlet with basic information about rights such as the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney. According to The Washington Times, the pamphlet, "which features cartoonlike drawings of armed black and white police officers escorting Hispanic men in handcuffs and shows babies crying because their fathers are behind bars, is the product of CASA of Maryland Inc., working with other organizations."CASA director of community organizing and political action Kim Propeack said "We consider providing people with accurate information about their rights fundamentally important to the people we serve, the local community concerned about public safety, and to the national community, which has adopted a bill of rights".
Representative Dana Rohrabacher of California, a Republican, called the pamphlet "harmful to America" because it teaches illegal aliens "how to circumvent the law", and that CASA was "aiding and abetting criminal activity" by distributing it.