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Helping 250,000 New Americans to Naturalize

February 22, 2017
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We started February with important news and a milestone announcement: Campaign partners have helped 250,000 aspiring Americans across the country complete citizenship applications.

We’re thrilled and humbled that since our launch in 2011, our unprecedented collaboration of funders and nonprofit partners has helped more than a quarter million aspiring Americans begin their path to citizenship. Our success lies in the strength of our partners’ relationships with local communities, their willingness to innovate and try new approaches, and the hard work we all do to decode the naturalization process and show how important citizenship is.

We know our shared efforts are more important than ever. We support this work because we recognize the power of citizenship. It gives aspiring Americans the ability to vote, travel freely, bring their immediate families to the U.S. and access better jobs. Citizenship also makes our communities stronger and more inclusive.

Despite the benefits of citizenship, 61 percent of lawful permanent residents haven’t received any information from the government about the process. That’s why our partners across 18 sites work to connect lawful permanent residents to legal assistance and critical information that decodes the application process for them.

Nearly 9 million immigrants in the United States are eligible to become citizens. By helping lawful permanent residents navigate the path to citizenship, New Americans Campaign and our local partners are helping our country live up to the tenets of its democracy: civic engagement, vibrant communities and building a stronger future for our nation.