Immigration Reform News: Constitution Day Naturalization Ceremonies, Obama

In 2004, Congress mandated that schools receiving federal funding provide education about the Constitution to commemorate its principles on its anniversary day.

The official ceremony Thursday fell fittingly on the nation’s Constitution Day and Citizenship Day.

Read the list of featured 2015 Constitution Week naturalization ceremonies. Oregon organizations Causa, PCUN, and the Oregon AFL-CIO will join the national effort by hosting a free citizenship workshop to assist eligible immigrants to apply for USA citizenship in Woodburn, OR on Saturday, September 19.

Liberty State Park, where visitors get on ferries to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, has been used as a site for naturalization ceremonies in the past.

The event was held in honor of Constitution Day and Citizenship Day in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security and US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Services will include biometrics collection, case interviews and information presentations.

“Citizenship is a major economic asset, for individuals, cities and our economy, and access to naturalization resources for those who qualify is a powerful tool for financial inclusion and inclusive economic growth”, said Bob Annibale, Global Director, Citi Community Development. As an initial effort, a new interactive practice civics test is available in English, with other languages to follow.

Today, President Obama launched a national, multilingual public awareness campaign to promote the rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of citizenship among eligible LPRs and to build a volunteer corps that will support them throughout the naturalization process.

According to recent estimates, there are about 13.3 million legal permanent residents in the USA , but only 8.8 million who are eligible to apply for citizenship. Located in 26 states, these organizations will receive funding to support citizenship preparation activities through September 2017. It said that campaign would soon expand to New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, Virginia, Washington and Arizona. Today, USCIS announced new partnerships and renewed local partnerships. With these announcements, USCIS now has a total of eight municipal partners. In fact, it is a central topic in the race for the White House. Welcoming communities are cities, counties or towns that strive to bring immigrants, refugees and native-born residents together to create a positive environment for all residents.

The campaign stems from the White House Task Force on New Americans which Obama established as part of his November 20 executive amnesty.

Others stood and offered in varying levels of English their pride in completing the lengthy process of gaining citizenship.