In November, President Obama unveiled his executive actions on immigration, which included a naturalization media campaign to encourage citizenship applicants. This campaign will be carried out by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in 2015 and is expected to provide information about U.S. citizenship and naturalization in the 10 states that 75 percent of all lawful permanent residents call home: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
Recently, the New Americans Campaign submitted a letter to USCIS outlining its experience-based ideas for the development and implementation of the media campaign.
On Monday, The Hill published an op-ed by New Americans Campaign leadership: Eric Cohen, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Stewart Kwoh, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles, Jeanne Atkinson, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. and Arturo Vargas, NALEO Educational Fund.
This op-ed calls on the Obama administration and Congress to increase their engagement in helping people become U.S. citizens, citing the need for a unified, consistent effort on all levels of government to put better integration policies in place. This media campaign should be part of a comprehensive immigrant integration strategy that addresses substantial challenges to achieving higher naturalization rates.
Read the full op-ed here.