For Abel Núñez, being the executive director of the Central American Resource Center in Washington, D.C. goes beyond the title — it’s part of a lifelong trajectory.
Born in El Salvador and raised in the district, Núñez has had a front-row seat to the migrant community the nonprofit is built to serve. Three presidential transitions, flip-flopping immigration reform and a surge in Latino migrants to the nation’s capital are just a handful of the changes he’s successfully led the organization through in his 13-year tenure.
But, it’s the first four months of President Donald Trump’s second term that have proven to be some of the most challenging for CARECEN and its clients.
“Even before the elections, there was trepidation,” said Núñez. “But, I think it’s been the ferocity in which the administration has come in with the executive orders — the language that they use — that people are really, really afraid, so we are getting bombarded with requests for people to understand what their situation is.”
Established in 1981 by lawyers Patricia Perillies and Joaquin Dominguez Parada in response to an influx of Central American civil war refugees, CARECEN’s mission is to foster the overall development of D.C.’s Latino population.
The center offers a variety of services ranging from legal services that span immigration applications, the naturalization process and residency renewals to English language classes.
A combined housing and financial literacy program that touches on tenant rights, foreclosure prevention and building ownership preservation ensures migrants have the resources needed to fully integrate into local communities.
“A lot of immigrants are also maintaining a household in their country of origin,” said Núñez. “We want to make sure they’re not sacrificing their development [and the development] of their children, but at the same time, they can continue to support the family that they left behind.”
While the organization’s mission remains intact amid the Trump administration’s aggressive crackdown on immigration control, its daily operations have required creative solutions to restrictive policies.
When a late-January memo from the Department of Homeland Security stripped sanctuary zones like schools and churches of immigration enforcement protections, CARECEN began collecting data on migrant children’s school attendance to account for long-term impacts.
The agency’s termination of Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans in early February saw the nonprofit expanding many of its services beyond its usual Central American demographic to help the vulnerable South American community.
Meanwhile, unexpected funding freezes like that of a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services grant provided to nonprofit legal service providers that support citizenship classes have tightened the center’s budget.
Still, it’s the increasing anxiety and worry among locals that concerns CARECEN’s team most and that the center hopes to counter with a resource that’s skyrocketed in popularity post-inauguration.
“What’s really, really picked up is our ‘Know Your Rights’ presentations,” said Andrea Faulknor, an Immigrant Justice Corps law fellow who’s spearheaded many of the workshops since beginning her tenure at CARECEN last August.
“At the start of the administration, we were giving about three [Know Your Rights presentations] a day, some in English, Spanish, Creole” she said. “We were doing workshops on the weekends.”
Aimed at giving D.C. immigrants a robust understanding of their constitutional rights, the workshops touch on various scenarios migrants might find themselves — like encounters with immigration officials at home, school, work or while driving — and teaches them how best to navigate them.
Crash courses on how to authenticate documents like warrants of deportation and the basics of social media monitoring supplement the curriculum to further instill confidence.
“What I’ve noticed about giving the general community [presentations] is that there’s always hundreds of people,” shared Faulknor. “I think a lot of people feel a lot more fortified when they leave a ‘Know Your Rights’ presentation.”
Having helped over 2,000 clients since 2023, the center has expanded the workshops beyond their traditional format and now offers presentations tailored to school administrators and social service providers as well as upped its fully online sessions to grow its reach.
But beyond supporting the local Latino community, CARECEN hopes its efforts show congressional leaders and the Trump administration that immigrants — both in the district and nationwide — are vital and here to stay.
“We are the largest foreign born population here,” closed Núñez. “We’ll probably be there for many years to come and this is why this area feels very different than if you go to California, or if you go to Texas, or anywhere else.”
