Boston joined five other cities Tuesday to partner with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to market citizenship to legal and illegal immigrants in their cities.
For the next three years, Boston will encourage legal and illegal residents to pursue citizenship by providing them with tools and education. Boston Public Library branches will establish “Citizenship Corners” to ensure easy access to citizenship preparation materials, and USCIS will provide training about the naturalization process to librarians and city officials, so they can help immigrants in search of information.
Los Angeles, Chicago, Nashville, Atlanta and New York City have also partnered with USCIS to promote citizenship. (RELATED: Activists Unite To Turn Illegal Immigrants Into Democratic Voters)
“There could be no better time for this kind of effort,” Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said in a statement announcing the partnership. “Like so many places in our country, Boston is becoming more diverse, and this agreement will further the work being done by USCIS and our Office of New Bostonians, which is vitally important to our future.”
Walsh signed the agreement at City Hall Tuesday, promising to provide citizenship information through schools, community centers and other city facilities, hold naturalization information sessions, and to broadcast citizenship education videos and public service announcements highlighting the agreement on local TV and on city websites.
Boston will also work to raise awareness about immigration scams and how to avoid them.
A coalition of immigration activists, community organizers and unions recently outlined and rallied around a comprehensive strategy to create millions of new Democratic voters by defending President Barack Obama’s executive orders on immigration, and by helping illegal immigrants pursue legal status and citizenship.
The Committee for Immigration Reform Implementation is training “navigators” and volunteers to connect and educate legal and illegal immigrants, and to register as many voters as possible who will support President Obama’s immigration policies.
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