Earlier this week, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a series of promotional materials as part of the Citizenship Public Education and Awareness Initiative. This media campaign initiative was launched under the Task Force on New Americans and part of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.
The media campaign is intended to raise awareness about the rights, responsibilities and importance of U.S. citizenship in an effort to demystify the naturalization process and provide lawful permanent residents with information to protect themselves against the unauthorized practice of immigration law. It will provide information on the naturalization process and educational resources, which can be found through the USCIS Citizenship Resource Center.
The materials released this week include print advertisements in English, Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese; digital advertisements in English, Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese; radio public service announcements in Spanish and Chinese; and video public service announcements in English and Spanish.
Online digital advertisements will run from July 1 to August 15 and a second phase of print and digital media ads will begin in September.
USCIS encourages immigrant-serving organizations to support the initiative by:
- Sharing digital and print campaign materials
- Placing a USCIS banner or widget on the organization’s website
- Registering for a free copy of the Civics and Citizenship Toolkit and using the contents in citizenship or English language programs
- Placing the media campaign’s print advertisement posters in office waiting areas, classrooms, community centers and other visible areas
- Requesting to download and use the available PSAs, free of charge, over the one-year life of the campaign
- Adding the organization’s English language and/or citizenship education programs to America’s Literacy Directory at www.literacydirectory.org
Video public service announcements are available here and digital, print, radio and video messages can be downloaded for free.
Earlier in the year, the New Americans Campaign submitted a letter to USCIS outlining its experience-based ideas for the development and implementation of the media campaign. The Hill also published an op-ed by New Americans Campaign Leadership calling on the Obama administration and Congress to increase their engagement in helping people become U.S. citizens. The campaign and its network of partners are excited to support USCIS in this initiative.