Campaign Pledges to Move Applicants through Backlog and Boost Voter Turnout

Washington, DC-Today, the Ya es Hora: Ciudadania! (Citizenship, It's Time!) Campaign announced that it surpassed its goal of helping mobilize more than one million eligible immigrants to apply for U.S. citizenship in 2007. Even with thousands of applications still being processed, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed receipt of 1,029,951 citizenship applications from January to October, 2007-nearly double the number of citizenship applications received in 2006.

"Surpassing the goal of one million applications is a tremendous achievement,"said Executive Director for the NALEO Educational Fund Arturo Vargas. "This is another example of the desire of the Latino community to become fully incorporated in the American political process. The Ya es Hora partnership will continue to build its campaign to continue this mobilization and we look forward to increasing Latino voter participation in November, 2008."

"This citizenship surge, carried by the optimism and hope that seal each application, is a victory for all Americans."said Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina. "Just as immigrants of all stripes are increasingly under attack, this community is re-asserting its patriotism and its commitment to help strengthen the U.S. democracy. This is the kind of civic participation our country needs to thrive."

Since January 2007, this unprecedented citizenship campaign has brought together more than 400 diverse institutions in 24 cities to offer citizenship workshops and to provide other hands-on help to applicants. Spanish language media partners-Entravision, ImpreMedia, and Univision -have run citizenship education programming, print ads, and public service announcements, together reaching 99 percent of Hispanic households.

Following the campaign's tremendous success, the Ya es Hora: !Ciudadania! partners are working with USCIS and members of Congress to reduce the citizenship application backlog. Currently, processing delays at USCIS could prevent 2007 applicants from naturalizing in time to vote in 2008 elections.

"Our campaign is committed to building the support we need to clear this backlog,"said National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Senior Vice President Cecilia Munoz. "These applicants have played by all the rules-waited patiently in line, paid their taxes, and contributed to their communities. We can all agree that they should not face yet another lengthy barrier to becoming full, active citizens. They deserve the opportunity to have their voices heard on Election Day."

The coalition partners include Entravision Communications, ImpreMedia, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and Univision Communications Inc.

 

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