CUNY Citizenship Now

September 20, 2013

By Allan Wernick, CUNY Citizenship Now Director

I am pleased to report that NYCitizenship in Schools, the program providing free naturalization assistance to the parents of New York’s school children, has been extended for another year. NYCitizenship in Schools is a partnership of the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Affairs (MOIA), Citibank and CUNY Citizenship Now working with other agencies. The CUNY/NYC Citizenship Corps is a key component of this effort. NYCitizenship in Schools provides free immigration information, assistance and financing options to eligible parents of students in the city’s public schools who are lawful permanent residents and seeking to begin the application process to become U.S. citizens.

Last year, NYCitizenship in Schools, with help from the CUNY/NYC Citizenship Corps, assisted 1,179* permanent residents apply for U.S. citizenship at ten events. I thought it would be interesting to share some information about those who we have served, for you to have a better idea of the impact you are making in our communities.

Here are some interesting facts about these 1,179 immigrants:*

• The majority of them are woman (754, 64%).
• The majority are from the Dominican Republic (209) followed by Haiti (125), Jamaica (121) and Trinidad and Tobago (103).
• Most of them live in Brooklyn (460, 39%) and Queens (352, 29.8%).
• Most participants tell us they are employed (605, 51%), while 387 (32.8%) are unemployed. One hundred and twenty seven did not answer this question. (We probably should keep an eye on participants filling all fields in the PRFs for us to have complete information the next time around).
• More than half of the participants (610) are in the 24-44 age bracket.
• We help many people in need. Six hundred and thirty four (53.7%) of our participants are receiving some form of public assistance (including Medicaid and food stamps).

With the help of our dedicated volunteers, we expect to exceed that number in the coming twelve months and continue helping parents who struggle to make ends meet. Thanks for being part of this initiative. Thanks also to our other partners: the Department of Education, the Office of Financial Empowerment, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the East River Development Alliance and the Neighborhood Trust Federal Credit Union.

*As per data available as of 9/11/2013.

Past Columns

August 18, 2013: The Landscape for Immigration Reform as Congress Goes in Recess. >> With Congress in recess, both sides in the immigration reform debate are actively promoting their views throughout the nation. That’s good news for immigrants. My bet is that those seeking justice for the undocumented, including leaders of most major religious denominations, will win the debate. At their side will be business leaders from the agricultural, manufacturing and high-tech industries. Meanwhile, some immigrants’ rights advocates are arguing that President Obama should grant deferred action status to undocumented immigrants if Congress fails to pass reform legislation this year. The program would get benefits similar to those received by DACAmented youth (individuals with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals): the right to reside here temporarily, employment authorization, and the right to travel for humanitarian, business or educational reasons. The idea is that Obama would offer deferred action to defined groups, including parents of DACAmented youth, family members of permanent residents and U.S. citizens, and needed workers. The Obama administration says that it has no plans to offer deferred action should reform legislation fail. The administration insists it can get a reform bill through Congress this year. 　 I’m hopeful that we won’t need deferred action for undocumented immigrants because immigration reform will become a reality. Still, it is good that advocates are considering alternatives to federal legislation.