Steven Shafer joined Esperanza in April 2018 as the supervising attorney for the Legal Orientation Program for Custodians of Unaccompanied Minors. Prior to joining Esperanza, Steven worked representing immigrant survivors of crimes, as well as abused, abandoned, and neglected immigrant children. ​ Steven received his B.A. in sociology and ethnicity, race, and migration from Yale University, his M.A. in sociology from Princeton University, and his J.D. from the UCLA School of Law. He graduated law school with a specialization from the David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy. Prior to law school, Steven worked as a research associate with the Harvard Business School, where he investigated issues of racial, gender, and language inequality in organizations. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable Harry Pregerson on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Steven continues to use his background as a sociologist to shed light on critical issues for immigrants in removal proceedings, including access to counsel in immigration court and family detention. His love of his three cats—Lester, Cherry, and Bean—is only bested by his love for his spouse, April.