Few American cities carry a community's story the way El Cajon carries the story of Iraqis: waves of refuge since the nineties and again after 2003 and 2014 — Chaldean, Assyrian, Syriac, and Muslim families who rebuilt their lives from nothing east of San Diego, until Arabic, especially in its Iraqi dialect, became a familiar language in the city's streets and shops. A community that knows what it means to start over — and knows, too, that the American system, its courts and its paperwork, is an entirely different world from the one it left behind.
Our service in El Cajon and San Diego
We serve Arabic-speaking families in El Cajon and its surroundings — Santee, La Mesa, Spring Valley — and across San Diego County. Supervised visits take place in neutral, child-friendly community settings, attended by a professional supervisor for the entire session and documented as they happen, with a written report in English within twenty-four hours, in the factual format California family courts and law firms work with. And if English is the hard part: we explain every report in Arabic, so you walk into any hearing fully understanding your own file.
Custody cases for residents of the region are heard by the Superior Court of San Diego County in its family divisions. California courts provide a free interpreter in family cases to anyone who requests one in advance — and Arabic is regularly requested in the region, given the size of the community. Read our guide to your language rights before your hearing.
Your family is in El Cajon or San Diego? Open your file tonight and we will speak with you — in Arabic or English — tomorrow.
Start your caseWhy El Cajon families trust us
- We serve the whole community: Chaldeans, Assyrians, Muslims, Mandaeans — our service is professional and neutral, asks about no one's sect, and respects every household's privacy.
- We understand the weight of the Iraqi experience: many families in this community have been through things that make trusting institutions hard. So we explain every step in advance, put every agreement in writing, and surprise no one with anything.
- Dialect is no barrier: our supervisors understand colloquial Iraqi as well as formal Arabic, so the conversation in a visit is documented accurately and in context.
- Costs announced from day one: a one-time $150 case setup fee, and $65 per hour with a two-hour minimum — details here.
Questions from families in the region
My documents are in Arabic — a marriage contract or a ruling from Iraq — does that concern you?
What concerns us is the American court order governing your child's visits. Foreign documents are a matter for your attorney and the court, and usually require certified translation to be filed. If any clause of your American order is unclear, we explain it to you in Arabic during the intake call.
Do visits take place near El Cajon itself?
Yes. We arrange community locations in East County wherever possible — we know many of the community's families live and work within a close radius of the city.
My child was born here and mixes English with Arabic — is that a problem?
No problem at all; that is most second-generation children. Our supervisors are fluent in both languages and document the conversation as it happened, whatever language it was in.