Latest news with #CitizenshipandIntegrationGrantProgram
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How a Mass. group is fighting Trump cutting assistance for legal green card holders
After a loss of federal funding forced the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition to shut down its citizenship assistance programming, the organization has joined a national lawsuit against the Trump administration. The Boston-based coalition, known as MIRA, lost $300,000 in funding from the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program in late January after the Department of Homeland Security terminated all related grants. MIRA had to immediately cease citizenship application assistance, at the time saying that hundreds of immigrants would now be forced to navigate the 'daunting and costly citizenship application process without the support of qualified, trained experts.' Last week, the organization joined other immigrant-serving organizations in a national lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security demanding that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reinstate the funding that supports green card holders on their path to citizenship. Read more: 'Betrayal of the American promise': Trump admin. cuts citizenship assistance in Mass. The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Maryland, Solutions in Hometown Connections et al. v. Noem et al., argues the Trump administration unjustly stripped MIRA of $300,000. The MIRA Coalition currently has 174 open naturalization cases for clients and insufficient funding to pay for those representation services, the lawsuit states. Elizabeth Sweet, MIRA Coalition's executive director, said the organization was proud to join the fight against the Trump administration after it 'wrongfully cut off hundreds of thousands of dollars in previously allocated funding that assists green card holders who legally reside in the U.S. apply for citizenship.' 'Immigrants who have lived and worked in the U.S. deserve support in navigating the confusing, expensive and lengthy citizenship application process and we will not turn our backs on them now,' she said. 'We look forward to making our case in court alongside immigrant-serving organizations from across the country.' According to the lawsuit, the grant program has helped more than 350,000 lawful permanent residents nationwide prepare for citizenship since 2009. A senior official at the Department of Homeland Security previously told MassLive that USCIS had terminated all grants awarded through the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program because 'taxpayer-funded programs that support, or have the potential to support, illegal immigration' are 'out of step' with the administration's priorities. The official further claimed without evidence that organizations funded by USCIS grants 'actively undermined the rule of law and integrity of our nation's immigration system by supporting sanctuary cities and open borders.' Citizenship assistance helps immigrants who already have permanent legal status and wish to become full U.S. citizens. ICE raids wrong home as 'traumatized' family explains they are citizens 'Un-American': Free speech groups petition judge to order Rümeysa Öztürk's release Boston prepares for fight after Trump signs order threatening sanctuary cities Mass. schools boss: Immigration chill leading to 'extended absences' Rümeysa Öztürk's return to Vermont delayed by federal appeals court
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - Citizenship and naturalization are under attack
The Trump administration is wasting no time making American citizenship harder to access and easier to deny. Just weeks into the new term, the Trump administration has proposed alarming changes to multiple immigration forms, including the naturalization application. These changes include requiring immigrants to disclose all of their social media usernames and provide personal information about family members, even if those relatives are undocumented and the information is irrelevant to the merit of a naturalization application. The government is also forcing permanent residents to choose between disclosing personal information about people they care about, possibly risking their deportation, and accessing naturalization. In another blow, the Department of Homeland Security terminated the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program. These essential grants, started in 2009, have enjoyed bipartisan support and allowed trusted local organizations to help lawful permanent residents become U.S. citizens. Community-based nonprofits with long and successful track records have relied on this support to provide legal assistance and civic and English instruction. The decision to cancel the grants — which are funded through congressional appropriations — cuts off critical infrastructure and undermines efforts that have helped thousands of immigrants learn English and complete the naturalization process. When the Asian Counseling and Referral Service, an organization in Seattle that provides naturalization services, learned that their DHS grant had been terminated, they shared that the grant 'constitutes 27 percent of the total annual funding for our citizenship program, so this cut will have a significant impact on our community, our programming, and our team. Many lawful permanent residents now feel unsafe and uncertain about their future, leading to an all-time high demand for citizenship and naturalization services.' Despite these challenges, organizations like Asian Counseling and Referral Service are committed to promoting naturalization and helping aspiring immigrants achieve their American Dream. Unfortunately, more barriers are likely coming, such as increased application fees, a revised naturalization test designed to lower the passing rate and potential delays in processing times, especially if the application becomes more burdensome. Even immigrants who meet all the legal requirements for naturalization are being made to jump through unnecessary hoops to slow down their path to U.S. citizenship. Collecting social media histories and investigating family background are not about public safety but about surveillance. Eliminating funding for citizenship preparation is not about efficiency, it is about dismantling a system that works. These threats matter because more than 10 million lawful permanent residents in the U.S. are potentially eligible to apply for citizenship. That's 10 million people who are already part of our communities. They are working, raising families and paying taxes. These people are simply trying to complete the final step in the immigration process to become American citizens. Citizenship provides legal protection, opens doors to better jobs and protects from deportation. According to the Migration Policy Institute, naturalized citizens tend to earn higher incomes and experience lower poverty rates. These contributions benefit U.S. citizens too, by boosting the economy through higher tax revenue, economic growth and increased civic engagement. And yet, instead of supporting lawful permanent residents, the Trump administration is erecting barriers designed to dissuade them from trying. Naturalization is the final step in a long and rigorous process that immigrants approach with seriousness and a deep respect for the law and the Constitution. My organization has worked with countless naturalized citizens who speak powerfully about why they became Americans. Many come from countries where dissent is punished and free speech is curtailed. They don't take democratic freedoms for granted. On the contrary, they value those freedoms precisely because they've seen what happens in their absence. I know this firsthand. I was born in Venezuela, a country where democracy has been gutted and civil liberties stripped away. I became a proud American citizen because I believe in what this country stands for: the rule of law, freedom of speech and the power of civic participation. The absence of these are at the core of everything that has crumbled in my country of birth. Creating new and unnecessary barriers for immigrants who value American institutions and contribute to our economy is unnecessary. It politicizes what has historically been a nonpartisan issue within our immigration system. It affects us all. Lucia Martel Dow is director of the New Americans Campaign at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Washington Post
02-04-2025
- General
- Washington Post
DHS cuts funds for groups helping legal immigrants become U.S. citizens
Christina Schoendorf's clients at United Community Ministries in Alexandria, Virginia, come from around the globe, but they have one thing in common: They all want to become U.S. citizens. In 2023, the Department of Homeland Security awarded United Community a nearly $200,000, two-year grant to help immigrants, such as those from Afghanistan and Ivory Coast, prepare for citizenship. Through the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program (also known as the Citizenship and Assimilation program), Schoendorf had hoped to expand the organization's services to help an additional 120 people become naturalized.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Feds cut $300,000 grant for citizenship assistance in Nevada, citing ‘sanctuary cities'
The Asian Community Development Council — based in Las Vegas and Reno — was notified on March 27 that it was among groups that would no longer be receiving federal grant money to fund citizenship education classes and services. (Getty Images) Hundreds of lawful permanent residents in Nevada will lose access to critical services that help immigrants become U.S. citizens after $300,000 in federal funding was pulled from the state last week. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said the agency has cut all grants awarded through its Citizenship and Integration Grant Program in response to a March 21 agency-wide directive by U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to 'restrict grant funding to sanctuary cities.' 'It's no secret that many organizations funded by USCIS grants over the years actively undermined the rule of law and integrity of our nation's immigration system by supporting sanctuary cities and open borders,' said a spokesperson for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in an email Monday. The term 'sanctuary city' often describes jurisdictions with law enforcement agencies that refuse to some degree to cooperate with ICE. While there is no standard definition, the Center for Immigration Studies, whose research is often cited approvingly by anti-immigrant activists and politicians, does not include any Nevada jurisdictions among its inventory of 'sanctuary cities.' The Asian Community Development Council — based in Las Vegas and Reno — was notified on March 27 that the USCIS decided to permanently terminate a $300,000 grant awarded to the nonprofit in November. The funding would have provided citizenship education classes and services to more than 200 individuals during the 24-month grant period. 'These classes would have provided rigorous background on U.S. history and government, and the naturalization process. The program was designed to equip students with the essential skills and knowledge required to successfully navigate the naturalization process and obtain U.S. citizenship,' said Vida Lin, president and founder of the Asian Community Development Council in a statement. The Asian Community Development Council was one of 43 organizations across 23 states to receive a Citizenship and Integration Grant from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2024, for a total of about $12.6 million in federal funding nationally. Lin said if the grant is not reinstated it will jeopardize services in Nevada that help lawful permanent residents become U.S. citizens, including application assistance, English language instruction and civics education. Since the Asian Community Development Council was first established in 2015, it has grown to meet several community needs. The nonprofit has supported immigrant communities in Nevada through food assistance, health insurance enrollment assistance, college readiness boot camps for local youth, and community events like the Asian Night Market, which showcases local Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander -owned businesses. However, the nonprofit has recently had to reduce its staff members 'due to the uncertainty of funding at all levels,' said Lin. 'This is the harsh reality that many nonprofits across Nevada and our country are facing currently as we try to navigate this new administration. Nevadans will continue to lose access to services and jobs due to decisions like the one DHS made last week,' Lin said. The Citizenship and Integration Grant Program was first established in 2009 under president Barack Obama's administration as a way to tackle the backlog of U.S. citizenship applications and administrative burdens. In a letter earlier this month to the acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Democratic House members — including Nevada Rep. Dina Titus — said the grant funded vital services that helped reduce the naturalization backlogs in recent years. According to the letter, the grant program has helped reduce errors and delays for lawful permanent residents seeking U.S. citizenship by equipping eligible applicants with the tools to navigate the naturalization process more effectively. 'Cutting funding for this program will only increase administrative inefficiencies and add to existing case backlogs,' reads the letter. However, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary characterized the grant program as a 'gravy train' that could potentially support unauthorized immigration. 'Taxpayer funded programs that that (sic) support, or have the potential to support, illegal immigration through funding illegal activities or support for illegal aliens are out of step with the President and Secretary Noem's priorities — as well as common sense. The gravy train is over,' said a spokesperson for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in an email Monday.
