New Americans Initiative
Participants
- Albany Park Neighborhood Council
- Arab American Action Network
- Centro Cristo Rey - Catholic Immigrant Family Center (Immigrant’s Hope Center)
- Centro Romero
- Centro Sin Fronteras
- Chinese American Service League
- Chinese Mutual Aid Association
- Erie Neighborhood House
- Erie Neighborhood House
- Family Focus
- Family Focus Aurora
- Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
- Holy Family Parish – Immigration Program
- Indo American Center
- Instituto del Progreso Latino
- Interfaith Leadership Project
- Korean American Resource & Cultural Center
- Korean American Senior Center/Hanul Family Alliance
- Latino Organization of the Southwest
- Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA)
- Mujeres Latinas en Accion
- Muslim Women Resouce Center
- Northwest Neighborhood Federation
- Organization of the Northeast (ONE)
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel Community Center
- Polish American Association
- Rock Valley Community College Refugee and Immigration Services
- Southwest Organizing Project
- Test Org
- The Immigration Project
- The Resurrection Project
- World Relief Chicago
- World Relief DuPage
The New Americans Initiative is a partnership between the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and the State of Illinois, launched with the support of Governor Rod Blagojevich.
*For a list of New Americans Initiative Service Providers, click here.
Facts
- Illinois is the fifth largest immigrant receiving state in the U.S., with approximately 20% of their population either foreign–born or children of immigrants.
- Of the 1.6 million immigrants in Illinois, only 600,000 (less than 40%) are currently U.S. citizens. Another 348,000 of them are currently eligible to become citizens, and another 142,000 will become eligible to become citizens shortly.
- Currently just 32,000 immigrants a year are becoming citizens in Illinois.
The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) administers The New Americans Initiative to:
- Directly assist immigrants in Illinois become U.S. citizens ;
- Encourage immigrants to independently initiate their naturalization process; and
- Help new citizens participate fully in civic life in Illinois.
The central proposal of the New American Initiative is a coordinated multiyear campaign for citizenship. This campaign is intended to link legal permanent residents directly to the information and services they need to successfully pursue citizenship. To accomplish these goals the New Americans Initiative coordinates a media and outreach campaign with citizenship preparation and legal counseling.
The NAI accomplishes its goals by providing grants to Community Collaboratives which are composed of immigrant serving community-based organizations and agencies integrating the following 4 components in their work plan:
1) OUTREACH:
- To spread the word about the importance and advantages of becoming a citizen
- To encourage people to start the naturalization process
2) APPLICATION PROCESSING:
- To assist people in filling out their application for citizenship in their own language
- To collect all the documents needed to file their applications
3) LEGAL:
- At each of the collaboratives, we have experienced attorneys, training staff and volunteers screening each application to avoid problems once the application is filed
- Attorneys also provide limited legal counseling to applicants
4) CITIZENSHIP PREPARATION:
- To prepare applicants for the citizenship test, interview and oath ceremony
The NAI has more than 50 organizations providing these services for free and reaching out to all immigrant groups throughout the state of Illinois.